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DOMESTIC POULTRY: 

BEING 

% f raxtol Cratme 

ON THE 

PREFERABLE BREEDS OF FARM-YARD POULTRY, 

THEIR HISTORY AND LEADING CHARACTERISTICS 
WITH 

COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS FOR BREEDING AND FATTEN- 
ING, AND PREPARING FOR EXHIBITION AT 
POULTRY SHOWS, Etc., Etc. ; 

DERIVED FROM THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE AND OBSERVATION 



SIMON M. SAUNDERS. 



• ♦• 



"VBR"^' F XX Hi L "ST IIjXiXJST'R.-A.T'EJiP- 
w jpt 9 

1 

* ORANGE JUDD, ******** 

AGRICULTUEAL BOOK PUBLISHER, 
Ifo. 41 JPark Row, New-Torh. 

1865. 
/ 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 

ORANGE JUDD, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District 

of New York. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

The object of the present treatise is, to present a simple 
description of the various useful breeds of domestic poul- 
try, exhibiting plainly and practically the best methods of 
their management, and the determining the purity of the 
variety selected for rearing by the young poultry fancier. 
Most of the poultry books of the day are voluminous, valu- 
able chiefly to those acquainted with the subject. Their 
minute accounts of breeds of poultry seldom seen on this 
continent, tend to swell the pages of the book without the 
dissemination of practically useful knowledge. In this 
treatise, I have endeavored to avoid, as much as possible, 
such a superfluity. Yet I do not place myself before the 
public as a, rival to the numerous writers on the subject. 
I pretend not to rival them — the field (like the world) is 
wide enough for all. A few portions of the work must 
necessarily treat of the same subjects as theirs, although a 
good deal that is new, I trust, will be found. I have given, 
with my own experience, that of well known poultry 
fanciers and " hen-wives," among which will be found that 
of C. N. Bement, Miss E. Watts, Mrs. Ferguson Blair, John 
Baily, M. Jacque, and Mariot Didieux. My aim is to fur- 
nish a brief but authentic and reliable work on poultry, 
without embarrassing the reader with useless theories and 
projects not feasible, and with the hope that my labors 
may not be found useless, I place my unpretending work 
before my readers. 



S. M. Saundees. 



Port Richmond, Staten Island, iV. Y. 



GOLDEN RULES. 

Never over feed. 

Never allow any food to lie about. 

Never feed from trough, pan, basin, or any vessel. 

Feed only while the birds will run after the feed, and 
not at all if they seem careless about it. 

Give adult fowls their liberty at daybreak. 

Never purchase eggs for hatching purposes until a hen 
is ready to sit. 

For seven or eight days before hatching, sprinkle the eggs 
with cold water while the hen is off. This will prevent the 
frequent complaint that the chicken was dead in the shell. 



CONTENTS. 

List of Illustrations 8. 

Authorities Quoted 8 

Introduction.. 5 

Golden Rules 6 

Origin of our Domestic Fowls 9 

Poultry Houses 10 

Feeding of Poultry 15 

Breeding and Management of Chickens 19 

Fattening of Poultry 22 

Diseases of Fowls 29 

Brahma Pootra Fowls 38 

Dorking Fowls 41 

Spanish Fowls 48 

Game- Fowls , 52 

Malay Fowls 58 

Cochin China Fowls 60 

Hamburgh Fowls 63 

Poland Fowls 65 

Bantams .,-. ~ 68 

French Breeds of Fowls— Crevecceur, Houdan, La Fleche 71 

The Domestic Turkey 75 

The Guinea Fowl 80 

The Domestic Goose— China, Bremen, Toulouse 83 

Feeding and Management of Ducks 87 

White Aylesbury Ducks 89 

The Musk or Muscovy Duck 91 

The Rouen Duck 94 

Poultry for Exhibition 96 

Terms and Technicalities 101 

Index 103 



C7) 



AUTHORITIES QUOTED. 



Allen, Hon. L. F., on Dorkings 42 

Bailey, John, on Brahmas 35 

Bailey, John, on Dorkings 43 

Brent, B. P., on Dorkings 42 

Columella, on 5-toed Hens 43 

Didieux, Mariot, on Dorkings 46 

Dixon, Rev. E. S., on DorUings 46 

Fuller, R. W., on Brahrnas « 37 

Giles, John, on Aylesbury Ducks 90 

Jacques, Charles 71 

Millett-Robinet, Madame, on Brahmas 36 

Smith, G. B., on Brahmas 34 

Thompson, J. C, on Brahmas , 38 

White, J. C, on Brahmas 40 

Wight, Dr. Eben, on Brahmas 37 

Wight, Dr. Eben, on Dorkings 46 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Brahma Pootra Fowls (Frontispiece) . . 

Boxes for Nests 12 

Fowl House, 6x6 feet, Elevation and Plan 14 

Hen Coops 20 

Coop for Fattening Fowls 22 

White Dorking Cock, Single Combed 42 

Grey Dorking Cock and Hen, Rose Combed 44 

Black Spanish Cock 49 

Black Spanish Hen 51 

Black-breasted Red Game Cock 53 

Malay Cock 58 

Cochin China Cock and Hen 61 

Poland Fowls— Silver Spangled and Black 66 

Group of Bantam Fowls 69 

Group of French Fowls 72 

Bronze Turkey Gobbler 76 

B ronze Hen Turkey 78 

Toulouse Geese 83 

Bremen or Embden Geese 85 

Pair of Rouen Ducks 95 

Illustration of Terms , 101 



(8) 



DOMESTIC POULTRY; 



HOW TO REAR AND FATTEN. 



ORIGIN OP OUR DOMESTIC FOWLS. 

The common fowl is generally supposed to be of Indian 
origin, and nothing can be learned respecting their ances- 
try until within a comparatively recent epoch. Nobody 
really knows the earliest date of their domesticity. Some 
suppose it must have been coeval with the keeping of 
sheep by Abel, which has a reasonable amount of proba- 
bility, as the oldest son of Japhet was called Gomer, signi- 
fying a cock. Again we find in Ecclesiastes 12:4, the 
following words : " And the doors shall be shut in the 
streets when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall 
rise up at the voice of the bird." Classic poets and histo- 
rians speak of the high antiquity of the fowl, and medals 
and coins bear its figure stamped upon them. In the New 
Testament we have also the words of our Lord to Peter : 
" Before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice ;" but 
350 years before Christ, Aristotle speaks of them familiarly 
as " household words." When the Romans, under Julius 
Caesar, invaded Britain, they found the fowl and goose domes- 
ticated, but these, as also the hare, were forbidden as food. 

}* (9) 



10 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

They have, in fact, been the oldest, and an important acqui- 
sition to man, passing from generation to generation for 
thousands of years, and branching out into so many varie- 
ties that every breeder will find a peculiarity in some of 
them to please his fancy. It is only on the most valued 
varieties I mean to dwell, giving a brief and explanatory 
description of their origin and peculiarities of plumage, 
points, or form, and purity of blood. 



POULTRY HOUSES. 

It is only of late years that poultry-houses have been 
much thought of. In large farmyards, where there are 
cart-houses, calf-pens, pig-styes, cattle-sheds, shelter under 
the eaves of barns, and numerous other roosting places, 
not omitting the trees in the immediate vicinity, I do not 
think they are required, for fowls will generally do better 
by choosing for themselves ; and it is, beyond a doubt, 
more healthy for them to be spread about in this manner 
than to be confined to one place. But a love of order on 
the one hand, and a dread of thieves, foxes, or skunks on 
the other, will usually make it desirable to have a pro- 
per poultry-house. 

The exterior is a matter of taste ; but internally, the 
comfort and well-doing of the poultry must be the only 
consideration, and the higher the house is, the less likeli- 
hood there is of disease or taint. Another advantage of 
having it lofty is, that the currents of air through the build- 
ing, being far above the fowls, purify the air without 
interfering with their comfort. They do not like a draught, 
and if, while they are perching, an opening is made admit- 
ting one, they will be seen to rouse up to alter their posi- 
tion, and at last to seek some other place to avoid it. 



POULTRY HOUSES. 11 

The best guide in all these things is nature, and an ob- 
server will always find that poultry choose a sheltered spot. 
They also carefully avoid being exposed to cold winds. 
The poultry-house should not open to the North or East. 
The perches should not be more than twenty-four inches 
from the ground. None are better than fir or sassafras 
poles, about fourteen inches in circumference, sawn in half 
in the center. They should be supported on ledges, fast- 
ened to each side of the house. This affords every facility 
for removing them for purposes of cleaning, at the same 
time that it is very simple. All perches should be on the 
same level, none higher than the other. 

My reason for being thus particular in my description of 
the perch is, that to mistakes in its construction and posi- 
tion many disorders in the feet of fowls maybe attributed. 
For instance, it has been complained that large fowls be- 
came lame, and what we term bumble-footed, more especi- 
ally when carefully kept in poultry-houses. Now, the rea- 
son for it is obvious — their perches are too high. In the 
morning the cock flies from the perch eight to twelve feet 
high ; the whole weight of his body, added to the impulse 
of his downward flight, brings him in contact with the 
ground. Often, from the violence of his fall, small stones 
are forced through the skin of the balls of the feet. They 
fester, and if that does not occur, they become so tender 
that the bird dare no longer perch: he roosts on the 
ground, and, for want of the necessary exercise, his legs 
swell at the knees, and he becomes a sleepy, useless fowl. 
This will be avoided by having low perches. Some well- 
informed authorities deem high perches of no consequence, 
provided the fowls have a plank with cross-pieces reaching 
them from the ground. But I believe these are only used 
to ascend ; the descent is generally done by flight. 

It is very necessary the house should be well ventilated ; 
it may be done either by an iron grating or an omission 



12 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

of bricks in the building, but the ventilators should be 
considerably above the perches, and in severe weather may- 
be entirely closed. It is an improvement to have a ceiling 
to the house ; a very slight and common one will do, and 
it is not absolutely necessary. The house should be often 
cleaned out, and the walls whitewashed. The floor should 
be of earth, well rammed down and covered with loose 
gravel two inches deep. This is easily kept clean by draw- 
ing a broom lightly over it every morning, and if it is 
raked, it is kept even and fresh. There should be an open- 
ing towards the West or South for the fowls to go in and 
out ; and this should never be closed, as fowls are fond of 
rambling early in the morning, and picking up such food 
as is to be found at break of day. 

It should not be allowed that any poultry roost in the 
house but fowl — no ducks, turkeys, geese, or any other sort. 
Neither may there be too many fowls, lest the house be- 
come tainted and the birds sickly. 

The poultry-house should have three compartments; 
one, the largest, for roosting, another for laying, and 
another for sitting ; though, if it is desired to curtail the 
accommodations, two compartments might suffice — that is, 
one for roosting and laying, and the other for hatching — 
taking care, however, that the 
nests for laying are not in too 
close proximity to the roosting- 
poles. In both the laying and 
Fig. 1.— boxes. sitting rooms, boxes (as in fig. 1 ) 

should be placed round the house, but on the floor ; all 
that is required is to fasten two boards against the wall, 
each being twenty inches high, the same length, and 
eighteen inches apart. This affords the hen all the privacy 
she requires. About eighteen inches from the wall a 
wooden head should be put, just high enough to preveut 
the eggs from rolling out. 




POULTRY HOUSES. 13 

It may not be out of place to mention, that, as no hen 
should be allowed to lay where the others are sitting — and 
difficulty may be experienced with some, from their almost 
unconquerable repugnance to sit anywhere but where they 
have been laying. It may be stopped in this way : move 
the hen and her eggs at night into the sitting-house, and 
cover her until morning, by hanging sacks, or old carpets, 
or matting over the boards forming her sitting-place, and 
she will remain quiet and satisfied. 

The door of the sitting-house should always be shut 
when hens are on their eggs, and it should, therefore, have 
a window, to open in the summer, but to shut quite close 
in the winter. When the window is, however, open, a 
wire frame should supply its place, to prevent laying hens 
from intruding. 

There is one addition to a poultry-yard so advantageous 
to chickens that those who have once tried it will never 
be without it. I mean a covered run for them, to be used 
in wet weather. Any sort of roof will do, and it should 
be in a sheltered spot, running the length of the yard, and 
projecting ten or twelve feet or more from the wall or 
pailing against which it is placed. It should be exposed to 
the sun, and sheltered from cold winds. The floor should 
be raised above the level of the yard, and covered with 
sand and wood ashes, some inches deep. The hens with 
chickens may be put here under their coops, in wet or 
stormy weather, and it affords at all times a favorite resort 
for poultry to bask and take their dust-bath, which is 
essential to their well-doing. The flooring should be 
higher at the back than the front. 

There is nothing better for the bottom of a nest than a 
sod of grass. On this should be placed straw. A nest so 
made is healthier for the hen and chickens, as it admits of 
sufficient ventilation, and is always free from vermin. 

It is essential both doors and windows of roosting- 



14 



DOMESTIC POULTRY. 




places should be open during the day for the purpose of 
ventilation. The floor should slant every way towards the 
door, to facilitate the cleaning, and to avoid anything like 

wet. It should be well 
cleaned every day, and it 
should be raised above 
the level of the surround- 
ing ground; it should 
have no artificial floor, 
such as boards, bricks, 
tiles, or stones of any 
kind, but should be of 
good hard earth and 
loose gravel — not dispos- 
ed to be muddy from its 
occupants going in and 
Fig. 2.— fo^l house, 6x6. ou t in wet weather. It 

a, Door; b, Ventilators ;c, Brackets; d, Entrance should Open On grounds 

perfectly free for the poultry to run in ; and if a high dry 
spot on light soil can be chosen, so much the better. The 
roof should be quite air and water tight. 

I will conclude with one more remark ; it is not neces- 
sary to build expensive houses. I keep a cock and five 
hens in a wooden house. (See 
fig. 2.) It is seven feet high 
in the centre, six feet square 
inside, and is planned as in fig. 
3. Such a house will cost, be- 
ing made of pine wood, about 
fifteen dollars, and will last 
many years. It is portable, by 
passing a pole through the 
brackets, (c, c, Fig. 2) on each side. It has no floor, being 
put on dry ground. The boards may split from exposure, 
but that may be prevented by a coating of tar or paint. 



f 


t» 


1> 


1, 


b 




e 











Fig. 3.— PLAN. 
, Door; b, Laying Boxes; c, Perch. 



FEEDING OF POTJLTBT. 15 



FEEDING OF POULTRY. 

It is difficult to assign any portion of food as a sufficient 
quantity for a given number of fowls, because so much de- 
pends on the nature of their run, and the quantity and 
quality of food to be found. For instance : in a farmyard 
where the barn-door is always open, and operations scat- 
tering grain and hay seed continually going on, adult birds 
require little or no feeding ; but if the supply be stopped, 
then they must be fed by hand. 

A good healthy growing fowl will consume, weekly, 
two-thirds of a gallon of corn or wheat ; and if the bird 
come from a yard where it has been but poorly fed, it will, 
for a time, eat more than this ; but after it has got up in 
flesh and condition, it gradually eats less, and two-thirds, 
or even half the quantity, will keep it in good condition. 
Again : the weather must be considered ; in mild, damp 
weather they prowl about and pick up many things — as 
insects, worms, young herbage. These all assist ; but in 
frosty — and, above all, in snowy weather — they require 
generous feeding. 

Do not spare good food for chickens; they require 
plenty while they are growing, and they will make a good 
return in health and vigor, when arriving at maturity. 
Those who are obliged to keep fowls in confinement, should 
have large sods of grass cut, and let the earth be heavy 
enough to enable them to tear off the grass, without being 
obliged to drag the sod about with them. Where there 
is a family, and consequent consumption, there are many 
auxiliaries, such as bread crumbs, groats that have been 
used for gruel, etc. But it must be borne in mind, that 
these are in the place of other food, and not in addition to 



16 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

it. When they can be had, other food should be dimin- 
ished. I am not an advocate for cooked vegetables, ex- 
cept potatoes. Boiled cabbage is worse than nothing. In 
fact, it must be borne in mind, corn, either whole or 
cracked, is the staple food, and the others are helps. Do 
not give fowls meat ; but always have the bones thrown 
out to them after dinner ; they enjoy picking them, and 
perform the operation perfectly. Do not feed on raw 
meat. It makes fowls quarrelsome, and gives them a pro- 
pensity to pick each other — especially in moulting time, 
if the accustomed meat be withheld. Hundreds have pur- 
chased birds — above all, Cochin Chinas — on account of 
their great weight, which, being the result of meat-feeding, 
has proved, a real disease, incapacitating them for breed- 
ing. "When proper food is provided, all is not accom- 
plished ; it must be properly given. No plan is so extrav- 
agant, or so injurious, as to throw down heaps once or 
twice a day. They should have it scattered as far and 
wide as possible, that the birds may be long and healthily 
employed in finding it, and may not accomplish in a few 
minutes that which should occupy them for hours. For 
this reason, every sort of feeder or hopper is bad. It is 
the nature of fowls to take a grain at a time, and to pick 
grass and dirt with it, which assist digestion ; but if, con- 
trary to this, they are enabled to eat corn by mouthfuls, 
their crops are soon overfilled, and they seek relief in ex- 
cessive draughts of water. Nothing is more injurious than 
this ; and the inactivity that attends the discomfort caused 
by it, lays the foundation of many disorders. "While speak- 
ing of food, it may be observed, that when, from traveling 
or other cause, a fowl has fasted a long time, say thirty 
or forty- eight hours, it should not have any hard food, 
neither should it have water at discretion. For the first 
three hours it should only have a small portion — say a tea- 
cupful of sopped bread, very wet ; so much so, as to serve 



FEEDING OF POULTRY. 17 

for food and drink. If the bird appear to suffer much from 
the journey, instead of bread and water, give bread and ale. 

But the food given them by hand is not all that is essen- 
tial. There is the natural food, sought out and divided by 
the hen to her progeny — such as insects of all kinds, 
peculiar herbage, etc. And it is here well to remark, that 
where fowls are bred for exhibition or other special pur- 
poses — as cocks for fighting — a hen should not be allowed 
to rear more than six chickens, as she can not find this food 
for a greater number ; and if they are intended to be supe- 
rior to all others, they must have greater, or at least equal 
advantages with those they will have to compete against. 

In most poultry-yards more than half the food is wasted. 
The same quantity is thrown down day after day, without 
reference to the time of year, alteration of numbers, or va- 
riation of appetite ; and that which is not eaten, is trodden 
about, or taken by small birds. Many a poultry-yard is 
coated with corn and meal. As it is essential fowls should 
have fresh-mixed food, a careful poultry-feeder will always 
rather mix twice, than have any left ; and it is often bene- 
ficial for the birds to have a scanty meal. They can find 
numerous things wherewith to eke out, and things that are 
beneficial to them ; but if they are kept constantly full, 
they will not seek them. The advantage of scattering the 
food is, that all then get their share ; while if it is thrown 
only on a small spaee, the master-birds get the greater 
part, while the others wait around. 

Many have been discouraged, and some deterred from 
keeping fowls, by the expense of feeding. If they will 
themselves attend to the consumption for a week, and fol- 
low the method I have pointed out, they may arrive at a 
fair average ; and they will be surprised to find how much 
greater the cost has been than was necessary. It is most 
essential not to invent or to supply imaginary wants in 
fowls. They do not require coaxing to eat ; and wherever 



18 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

food can be seen lying on the ground in the yard, there is 
waste and mismanagement. The economy is not in the 
food alone. They are large gainers in health, and the 
pleasure of keeping is much increased. The tendency of 
over-feeding is to make them squat about under sheds and 
cart-houses ; and instead of spreading over a meadow or 
stubble in little active parties, searching hedges and banks, 
and basking on their sides in the dust, with opened feathers 
and one wing raised to get all the glorious sun's heat they 
can — they stand about, a listless, pampered group. To lay 
much better, to breed better chickens, and to last longer, 
are the results of diminished, not increased expense in 
feeding ; and all that is required is a little personal super- 
intendence at first, till the new system is understood and 
appreciated. In most yards the birds are overfed, and 
there is waste in nearly all. 

It is common with those who undertake to write 
upon poultry to be asked: What is the food to make 
fowls lay ? High feeding of any sort will do it, but par- 
ticularly hemp seed and tallow-chandler's greaves. The 
former is given whole ; the latter should be chopped fine, 
and then put in a bucket, and covered with boiling water. 
The mouth of the bucket should be covered with a double 
sack, or other cloth, so completely, as to exclude air, and 
confine the steam till the greaves are thoroughly softened. 
When they are nearly cold they may be given. These will 
make them lay, but it is only for a time ; premature de- 
crepitude comes on, and disease in many forms appears. 
The most common is dropsy, and of an incurable charac- 
ter. The fowl that would have laid for years, in the com- 
mon course of nature, being forced to produce in two that 
which should have been the work of several, loses all 
beauty and usefulness ; and yet it is often considered mat- 
ter of wonder that the most prolific hen in the yard should 
suddenly become barren. 



BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF CHICKENS. 19 



BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF 
CHICKENS. 

However reluctant those concerned with poultry may- 
be to acknowledge the fact, it is not the less true that 
most old women who live in cottages know better how to 
rear chickens than any other persons ; they are more suc- 
cessful, and it may be traced to the fact that they keep 
but few fowls, that these fowls are allowed to run freely 
in the house, to roll in the ashes, to approach the fire, and 
to pick up any crumbs or eatable morsels they find on the 
ground, and are nursed with the greatest care and indul- 
gence. 

The first consideration is the breeding-stock, and I would 
advise, in an ordinary farm-yard, to begin with twelve hens 
and two cocks ; the latter should agree well together. 

Too much pains cannot be taken in selecting the breed- 
ing-fowls; the presence of all the characteristics of the 
various breeds, as described in the following chapters, 
should be insisted on in the purchasing of stock. 

Having the stock, the next point will be breeding. I 
am a great advocate for choosing young birds for this pur- 
pose, and with that view would advise that perfect early 
pullets be selected every year for stock the following sea- 
son, and put with two-year-old cocks : for instance, pullets 
hatched in May attain their growth and become perfect in 
shape, size and health before the chills of winter. They 
should be put with cocks of two years old, when they will 
lay on the first appearance of mild weather, and their pro- 
duce has the same advantage as these have had before 
them. I do not advocate having young stock-fowl so much 
on account of their laying early, as I do for the superiority 



20 



DOMESTIC POULTRY. 



of their breeding. Neither is it desirable to breed from 
fowls of all the same age. If it can be done, it is better 
to put a two-year-old cock with pullets, and vice versa. 

It is well to introduce fresh cocks of pure breed into the 
yard every second year ; this prevents degeneracy, and for 
the same reason no cock should be kept more than three 
seasons, nor hen more than four, if it is intended to keep 
them in the highest possible perfection and efficiency. 

Of hatching I will say but very little, as the hen will do 
that naturally, and consequently well. An ordinary sized 
hen will cover thirteen eggs. All nests should be on the 
ground. Eggs for hatching should not be purchased till a 
hen is ready to sit. For seven or eight days before hatch- 
ing, the eggs should be sprinkled with cold water while 
the hen is off. This will prevent the frequent complaint 
that the chicken was dead in the shell. 

I give, herewith, (Fig. 4,) a sketch of the best coop I 
have yet found for hen and 
chickens. Its dimensions 
should be twenty-four inches 
high in front, eighteen wide 
in front, and twenty-four in 
depth. It should be solid 
everywhere save in front. 
That should be made of bars, 
and the three centre ones 
should lift up by means of Fi ^ 4 -~ HEN COOP - 

a cross piece. It must not have a bottom. The hen 
should be kept in the coop, or rather under it, at least 
six weeks, and in the winter the longer she is under the 
better. The coops should be often moved, as it prevents 
the ground from becoming tainted. 

It is too often presumed that little care is required as to 
the feeding of poultry from the time they leave the coop 
until the time they are put up for fattening. They are 




BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF CHICKENS. 21 

allowed the run of the yard, without considering what a 
precarious subsistence this affords. There may be abun- 
dance of food at some periods, and little or none at others. 
They should be fed regularly, and care should be taken 
that each of them (for they are all brought up either for 
the table or stock) shall have a fair share. 

For chickens, I would recommend for the first week 
after hatching, a hard-boiled egg to be given, chopped fine 
at least twice a day, wheat steeped in milk, and coarse 
Indian meal, bread-crumbs, canary and millet seed, etc., etc. 
A change of food is not only advantageous, but necessary, 
and I would advise that twice per week the food be 
changed, substituting cracked corn for wheat. They must 
also have constant opportunities of picking among grass 
and other herbs. They should only be fed so long as they 
will run after their food ; as soon as they are careless about 
it, they have enough. Fowls in confinement will pine to 
death with heaps of corn around them, unless they have 
these opportunities. 

As the chickens get older they will require feeding less 
often, but they must never be allowed to fall off in condi- 
tion, and after from ten or twelve weeks in the summer, 
or from fourteen to eighteen in the winter, they will be 
ready to fatten, if required. 

Next, as to water. It is too much the idea that any 
description will do, and that provided there be some 
within their reach, though it have been standing a week, 
nothing more is required. This is a mistake. Water for 
fowls and chickens should be very clean ; the vessel con- 
taining it should be well rinsed out every morning ; it is a 
good plan to put a little gravel at the bottom, and it 
should be changed twice a day. I am aware, many will 
be disposed to think this unnecessary ; but I will ask any 
one who has the opportunity to try whether, where there 
is a stream of water running through a yard, they can 



22 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

cause the poultry to forsake it by placing water nearer to 
their haunts ; it will always be found they prefer going to 
the stream, to drinking out of the pan or tub. 

There is little doubt many of the diseases of poultry 
arise from the filthy water they are often obliged to drink 
from ponds full of decayed vegetable matter, and tainted 
by the fall of leaves in autumn from overhanging trees. 



FATTENING OF POULTRY. 

There are two methods of fattening ; one is by feeding 
in troughs, another by cramming. Where merely a good 
useful fowl is required, the first process will suffice ; but, 




Fig. 5.— COOP FOR FATTENING FOWLS. 

when it is wished to make a fowl of extraordinary fatness, 
such a coop or pen as I shall endeavor to describe will be 
required. It is represented in the accompanying sketch. 
A coop for twelve fowl should be twenty-four inches 
high, three feet long, and twenty-two inches deep; it 
should stand about two feet from the ground, the front 



FATTENING OF POULTRY. 23 

made of bars about three inches apart, the bottom also 
made of bars about an inch and a half apart, to insure 
cleanliness, and made to run the length of the coop, so that 
the fowl constantly stands, when feeding or resting, in the 
positition of perching. The sides, back and top, indeed 
the whole of the coop should be made of bars, as in the 
sketch. The bars of which it is made should be an inch 
and a half wide. Some people make them round, and I 
am not sure they are not preferable to flat ones. Fatten- 
ing fowls do not require much room. Exercise is not 
favorable to the process, and it is, therefore, important 
that the room given to each bird should be only so much 
as will enable it to stand up or sit in -tolerable comfort. 
For this reason there are two slides to the coop. These 
not only make the task of catching the fowls much easier, 
but they are very useful when the coop is wanted for a 
smaller number of birds. If only four are required, and 
they have the same space allowed to them as to twelve, 
they will make little progress. It is therefore necessary 
to have a board or division made, which, by passing be- 
tween the bars from front to back, will make a coop of the 
size required. There should be a trough made in front of 
the coop, and I much prefer it wedge-shaped to the square 
ones generally in use. It is much easier to clean. The 
coop only requires in addition a flat board running along 
in front, having a groove cut in it to receive the bottom 
of the trough, and an upright piece at the edge to support 
it. The trough must be easily movable, which is necessary, 
as it must be scalded once every day to keep it sweet. 

This trough must be filled three times a day with food, 
the quantity being regulated by the number of fowls fat- 
tening ; the food should be coarse meal, mixed slack, but 
not quite liquid, the consistence being such that if some 
of it were placed on the flat board in front of the coop, 
although it would spread, it would not run off. It may be 



24 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

mixed with water, but milk is much better ; in fact, it 
should always be borne in mind the food cannot be too 
good or too clean. It is also essentially necessary that 
sound discretion be used in the quantity of food given. 
No more should be given than is eaten up clean at a time, 
and at every meal it should be fresh-mixed food. When 
the time arrives for the mid-day feed, if there remains any 
uneaten in the trough from the morning, it is proof either 
that too much was given before, or that the fowls are sick. 
If the first, let them fast till evening ; if the second, alter 
the character of the food, by mixing it either slacker or 
stiffer ; but in both cases the food which has been left must 
be taken away, or ,it will turn sour, and the fowls will take 
a distaste for it, which will prevent their fattening. There 
should be pans continually before them containing fresh, 
clean water ; and when the troughs are removed for scald- 
ing, and while they are drying, there should be gravel 
spread on the ledge before them; they will pick out the 
small stones to assist digestion, which greatly promotes 
their health. 

Another excellent thing is to cut a lot of grass and place 
it occasionally before them. No better proof will be re- 
quired of this being good for them, than the avidity with 
which it will be eaten. All these things assist health, and 
for a fowl to be good on the table, it must be healthy when 
alive. By this process, a fowl put up in good flesh and 
condition will be fat enough for ordinary purposes in about 
ten or fourteen days. 

It will be observed, I inculcate the greatest cleanliness 
throughout. Cleanliness is one essential ; another, that the 
fowls be fed early in the morning, as soon as the sun rises, 
for they will be then waiting for their food. If the first 
meal of a fowl is deferred till seven or eight o'clock on a 
summer's day, the bird has been hungry, restless, and dis- 
satisfied four hours, and in that time the progress made in 



FATTENING OF POULTRY. 25 

fattening the previous day has been fretted away. This 
remark applies both to picking and the succeeding method 
of fattening. 

The next process is cramming. The coop must be pre- 
cisely similar to that used for pickers, with troughs. The 
number of these coops must depend on the supply of fowls 
that is required, as they should not always be in use, lest 
they become tainted. They are so inexpensive and easily 
made, it is not worth while to incur any risk of this sort ; 
and after one has been in use for a month, it is always well 
that it should be washed, exposed to the air for as long 
time as it can be spared, and if lime-whited (white-washed), 
so much the better. 

The fowls for cramming are put in this coop, and if 
wanted very fat in a short time, the best of those fed by 
the former process may be selected, and in a week they 
will be very good ; but if not in a hurry, then good fleshy 
young fowls should be put up, and fed as follows : but (in 
this and the former method) care must be taken to put up 
fowls that have been accustomed to be together. If strange 
fowls are put in the same coop they will fight, and if so, 
they will not fatten ; nor is that all, from the continual ex- 
citement they will become hard. It will sometimes happen 
that even a pullet is quarrelsome ; if so, she must be taken 
from the coop and kept separate, or she will interfere with 
the well-doing of the lot. If fowls are to thrive, they must 
be warm. The heat and steam of the birds should be per- 
ceptible to the hand when it is put in. For this purpose 
they must be close to each other, and the coop should- be 
covered up with old sacks, carpet, matting, or anything of 
that sort. 

The food is the same as before, viz., coarse meal mixed 

with milk, the only difference being, it is mixed stifler, 

and it must now retain the form given to it ; if it is wished 

to make the fowls very fat, a little mutton-suet may be 

2 



26 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

boiled in the milk with which the meal is slaked. A " cram" 
should be about the size of a woman's finger, and an inch 
and a half long. Six or eight are given morning and even- 
ing ; that is enough to fill the fowl's crop. The crams 
should be rolled up as dry as possible, and in order to 
make the swallowing easy, previous to being given they 
should be dipped in milk. Women perform this operation 
better than men : the fowl is placed in the lap, the head is 
held up, and the beak kept open with the thumb and 
finger, the cram is introduced into the gullet, the beak is 
then closed, and the cram is gently assisted down till it 
reaches the crop; care must be taken not to pinch the 
throat, as ulceration would follow, and the fowl would be 
spoiled. If at mid-day the fowls appear restless and dis- 
satisfied, a very little food may be given to them in the 
same way as to those fed by troughs. They must also be 
well supplied with water and gravel. 

It will sometimes happen that when the time arrives for 
the evening meal, that of the morning has not digested. 
Therefore, before the second feed is given, the crop should 
be lightly felt to see if it be empty ; if it is not, there is 
evidence of something wrong. The fowl must be taken 
out immediately, and the beak being held open as if for 
cramming, some warm water or gruel should be poured 
down the throat, and the beak closed. The bird will swal- 
low it, and it will soften the food ; but if more food were 
forced into the crop on that already hardening there, the 
fowl would become " crop-bound " ; that is, the food would 
become solid and indigestible, and the fowl would be to- 
tally spoiled for the table, if it did not die. By the fore- 
going process, a fowl may be made perfectly fat and good 
in fourteen to sixteen days. There is no necessity to feed 
longer, unless large size be desired, when feeding may be 
continued three weeks. I prefer the former period, be- 
cause the fowl then is fat enough and in perfect health ; 



FATTENING OF POULTRY. 27 

but frequently afterwards, although it will get fatter and 
apparently larger, it will lose both weight and flesh. The 
latter becomes red and dry ; the internal fat impedes the 
exercise of the functions of digestion : and the fowl be- 
comes diseased. This is what poulterers call " clung," and 
arises from disease of the liver, caused by excessive feed. 
There is no possible method by which a fowl may be kept 
fatting and in perfect health after it has reached the acme 
of fatness. It must then be killed, or it will become worth- 
less. When put up either for trough-feeding or cramming, 
the birds must be in some sort of building, and completely 
sheltered from cold and draughts. When the weather is 
chilly, they should be covered with sacks or matting, as 
warmth is very essential in causing them to thrive. Atten- 
tion to these explicit details will remedy one of the com- 
plaints urged against country poultry, viz., that it is too lean. 
Another objection urged is, that the flesh is hard. For 
this complaint there are two causes ; first, the poultry is 
too old ; next, it is eaten too fresh. Fowls should be put 
up to fatten at from twelve to fourteen weeks old in the 
summer, and from sixteen to twenty in the winter. The 
difference is caused by the fact that in warm weather they 
arrive at maturity much sooner than in cold ; and when a 
fowl has arrived at maturity it is too old for the table. It 
is a mistake to keep a fowl until it is too old for the sake 
of having it large. It is true it looks handsome on the 
table, but it is useless there. Perhaps part of the breast 
may be eaten, but the legs are far too hard to furnish any 
delicate food. Still, size is much to be desired, and it 
can be attained by following the rule laid down for feed- 
ing chickens well from the first, and the increase in size 
and weight during the fortnight's systematic fattening 
is almost incredible to those who have never observed it. 
But to be tender, the fowl must be young. There is no 
process by which an old one can be made good for the 



28 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

table, and surely, though it may be a little smaller, it is 
better to have a good juicy fowl, which all will eat with 
relish, than a larger one, which, from its hardness, cannot 
be enjoyed. 

Another complaint often made is that, although a good 
fowl is to be had sometimes, there is no certainty. This 
arises from the fact that the fowls are improperly selected; 
that if six fowls are wanted, they will perhaps be taken 
from six different broods. This is very wrong ; the oldest 
brood should be cleared off before the next is taken. It 
may be said there is only a difference of three weeks or a 
month between them ; but in summer and autumn a month 
turns the pullet into a hen, and so unfits her for the table. 

The next cause for their being hard is, they are eaten 
too fresh. I use the term fresh in a qualified sense. A 
really young fowl does not require keeping to become 
tender, because it is naturally so ; but, if eaten the day it 
is killed, it must be stringy, as every member of the body 
is still rigid. Forty-eight hours will be quite long enough 
to keep such a fowl. But in spite of all care, there will 
sometimes be fowls beyond the age I have specified, as 
the proper time for killing ; and then, by keeping them 
some days, they will become more tender. 

The reason for this is simple. If a fowl be caught up 
out of a farm-yard, or taken out of coop, full of food, and 
killed directly, as is too much the custom, the food in the 
body and crop ferments, and at last corrupts the flesh ; 
but if the bird be fasted — that is, kept entirely without 
food or water from twelve to fifteen hours before it is kil- 
led — it will be found quite empty, and, in moderate 
weather, will keep from four to six days, during which 
period it becomes tender. In the winter it may kept 
much longer. 



DISEASES OF FOWLS. 29 



DISEASES OF FOWLS. 

Among the disease of fowls, nothing is so fatal to the 
bird, or so vexatious to the fancier, as the Roup. Very close 
observation and experience have taught me the first pre- 
monitory symptom is a peculiar breathing. The fowl ap- 
pears in perfect health for the time, but it will be seen that 
the skin hanging from the lower beak, and to which the 
wattle is attached, is inflated and emptied at every breath — 
such a bird should always be removed. 

The disease may be caused, first, by cold damp weather 
and easterly winds, when fowls of weakly habit and bad 
constitution will sicken of it, but healthy, strong birds will 
not. Again, if by any accidental cause they are long with- 
out food and water, and then have an unlimited quantity 
of drink and whole corn given to them, they gorge them- 
selves, and ill health is the consequence ; but confinement 
is the chief cause, and above all being shut up in tainted 
coops. Nothing is so difficult as to keep a fowl healthy in 
confinement in large cities ; two days will often suffice to 
change the bright, bold cock into the spiritless, drooping, 
roupy fowl, carrying contagion wherever he goes. 

But all roup does not come from cities ; often in the 
spring of the year the cocks fight, and it is necessary to 
take one away ; search is made for something to put h'im 
in, and a rabbit-hutch or open basket is found, wherein he 
is confined, and often irregularly supplied with food, till 
pity for his altered condition causes him to be let out ; but 
he has become roupy, and the whole yard suffers. I dwell 
at length on this, because of all disorders it is the worst, 
and because, although a cure may seem to be effected, yet 
at moulting, or any time when out of condition, the fowl 



30 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

will be more or less affected with it again. One thing is 
here deserving of notice. The result of the attention paid 
to poultry of late years has been to improve the health and 
constitution of the birds. Roup is not nearly so common 
as it was, nor is it so difficult of cure. It went on unnoticed 
formerly, till it had become chronic, and it would not be 
difficult to name yards that have now a good reputation, 
but which, a few years since, never had a healthy fowl. It 
is now treated at the outset, if seen, but the improved man- 
agement in most places renders it of rare occurence. The 
cold which precedes it may often be cured by feeding twice 
a day with stale crusts of bread soaked in strong ale, there 
must be provided, warm dry housing, cleanliness, nutritive 
and somewhat stimulating food and medicine. In my own 
case I generally give as medicine some tincture of iron in 
the water pans and some stimulants. The suspected fowl 
should be removed directly, and if there be plenty without 
it, and if it be not of any breed that makes its preservation 
a matter of moment, it should be killed. There is very 
little doubt of a cure if taken in the first stage. But, if 
the eyelids be swollen, the nostrils closed, the breathing 
difficult, and the discharge foetid and continual, it will be a 
long time before the bird is well. In this stage it may be 
termed the consumption of fowls, and with them, as in 
human beings, most cases are beyond cure. However I 
may differ from some eminent and talented amateurs, I do 
not hesitate to say it is contagious in a high degree. Where 
fowls are wasting without any apparent disorder, a tea- 
spoonful of cod-liver oil per day will often be found a most 
efficacious remedy. 

I will next mention a disease common to chickens 
at an early age — I mean the gapes. These are caused by 
numerous small worms in the throat. The best way I 
know of getting rid of them, is to take a hen's tail-feather, 
strip it to within an inch of the end, put it down the 



DISEASES OF FOWLS. 31 

chicken's windpipe, twist it sharply round several times, 
and draw it quickly out : the worms will be found entangled 
in the feathers. When this is not effectual in removing 
them, if the tip of the feather be dipped in turpentine, it 
will kill them, but it must be put down the windpipe, not 
the gullet. I have always thought these are got from im- 
pure water, and I have been informed by a gentleman who 
inquires closely into those things, that having placed some 
of the worms taken from the throat of a chicken, and some 
from the bottom of a water-butt, where rain-water had 
stood a long time, under a microscope, he found them iden- 
tical. I have never met with gapes where fowls had a 
running stream to drink at. Camphor is perhaps the best 
cure for gapes, and if some is constantly kept in the 
water they drink, they take it readily. This has been most 
successful. There is also another description of gapes, 
arising probably from internal fever ; I have found meal 
mixBd with milk and salts a good remedy. They are some- 
times caused by a hard substance at the tip of the tongue ; 
in this case, remove it sharply with the thumb-nail, and let 
it bleed freely. A gentleman mentioned this to me who 
had met with it in an old French writing on poultry. 
Sometimes a fowl will droop almost suddenly, after being 
in perfect health ; if caught directly, it will be found it 
has eaten something that has hardened in the crop ; pour 
plenty of warm water down the throat, and loosen the 
food till it is soft, then give a tablespoonful of castor-oil, 
or about as much jalap as will lie on a ten cent piece, 
mixed in butter ; make a pill of it and slide it into the 
crop ; the fowl will be well in the morning. Cayenne pep- 
per or chalk, or both mixed with meal, are convenient and 
good remedies for scouring. 

When fowls are restless, dissatisfied, and continually 
scratching, it is often caused by lice ; these can be got rid 
of by supplying their houses or haunts with plenty of 



32 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

ashes, especially wood ashes, in which they may dnst 
themselves, and the dust-bath is rendered more effectual by 
adding some sulphur to the dust. It must be borne in 
mind, all birds must have the bath ; some use water, some 
dust ; but both from the same instinctive knowledge of its 
necessity. Where a shallow stream of water runs across a 
gravel road, it will be found full of small birds washing ; 
where a bank is dry, and well exposed to the sun, birds 
of all kinds will be found burying themselves in the dust. 

Sometimes fowls appear cramped, they have difficulty in 
standing upright, and rest on their knees ; in large young 
birds, especially cocks, this is merely the effect of weak- 
ness from fast growth, and the difficulty their long weak 
legs have in carrying their bodies. But if it lasts after 
they are getting age, then it must be seen to. If their 
roosting-place has a wooden, stone, or brick floor, this is 
probably the cause ; if this is not so, stimulating food, such 
as I have described for other diseases, must be given. 

Fowls, like human beings, are subject to atmospherical 
influence; and if healthy fowls seem suddenly attacked 
with illness that cannot be explained, a copious meal of 
bread steeped in ale will often prove a speedy and effectual 
remedy. For adults, nothing will restore strength sooner 
than eggs boiled hard, and chopped fine. If these remedies 
are not successful, then the constitution is at fault, and 
good healthy cocks must be sought to replace those whose 
progeny is faulty. 

" Prevention is better than cure." The cause of many 
diseases is to be found in enfeebled and bad constitutions ; 
and these are the consequences of in-and-in breeding. 
The introduction of fresh blood is absolutely necessary 
every second year, and even every year is better. Many 
fanciers who breed for feather fear to do so lest false colors 
should appear, but they should recollect that one of the 
first symptoms of degeneracy is a foul feather ; for in- 



DISEASES OF FOWLS. 33 

stance, the Sebright bantam loses lacing, and becomes 
patched, the Spanish fowls throw white feathers, and 
pigeons practise numberless freaks. An experiment was 
once tried which will illustrate this. A pair of black 
pigeons was put in a large loft, and allowed to breed with- 
out any introduction of fresh blood. They were well and 
carefully fed. At the end of two years an account of them 
was taken. They had greatly multiplied, but only one 
third of the number were black, and the others had become 
spotted with white, then patched, and then quite white ; 
while the latter had not only lost the characteristics of the 
breed from which they descended, but were weak and de- 
formed in every possible way. The introduction of fresh 
blood prevents all this ; and the breeder for prizes, or who- 
ever wishes to have the best of the sort he keeps, should never 
let a fowl escape him if it possesses the qualities he seeks. 
Such are not always to be had when wanted, and the best 
strains we have, of every sort, have been got up by this 
plan. There is one thing worthy of remark : none of our 
fowls imported from warmer climates are subject to roup, 
as Spanish, Cochins, Brahmas, and Malays. But those 
from a damp country, like Holland, seem to have seeds of 
it always in them. 



2* 



34 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 



DESIT^ABLE BX^EEI>S. 



BRAHMA-POOTRA FOWLS. 

(SEE FRONTISPIECE.) 

The origin of the Brahma fowls has been a subject of 
much contradiction, but has been assigned to the banks of 
the Brahma-putra, a river that discharges its waters into 
the Bay of Bengal. 

Their first appearance was in the city of New York, in 
the year 1850, when three pairs were in the possession of 
a sailor, who sold them to a mechanic in that city, who 
again sold them or their progeny. By some writers it has 
been contended that they are nothing but gray Shanghais ; 
this can only be attributed to a desire on the part of the 
Shanghai and Cochin breeders to put a stop to the rapid 
advance to favor made by the Brahmas. But it is useless, 
for they have everything to recommend them, and their 
lovers and admirers must be content with the good quali- 
ties which by universal consent are awarded to them, and 
though they appeared at a time when people were suffer- 
ing from the effect of the decline of the Cochin mania, they 
held their own, and have succeeded in forming numerous 
and attractive classes. The Brahma is a large, heavy bird, 
symmetrical, prolific, and hardy ; living where Shanghais 
would starve, growing in frost and snow when hatched in 
winter months. In speaking of various breeds of fowl, 
Mr. G. B. Smith says : " As regards Brahmas and gray 
Shanghai fowl, I think there is a great difference between 
the two. I have raised them for several years, and great- 
ly prefer the Brahmas. They lay a third larger egg than 



BEAHMA-P00TBA FOWLS. 35 

the Shanghai, and are the best fowl for any one desiring 
eggs in the winter. Their eggs sometimes weigh from 
three to four and a quarter ounces each, whereas those of 
the Shanghai seldom reach over two or two and a half 
ounces. The Brahmas, I think, will lay a greater weight 
of eggs in a year than any other fowls I am acquainted 
with. I have bred fowls for over twenty years, ancl there 
are none I like better than these." 

That the Brahmas are a distinct breed I have not the 
least doubt, but whether they come from China or India I 
will not stop to discuss. It is enough that they come 
from the East — from Asia. 

The deficiency of tail is the characteristic of all these 
fowls, Cochins, Brahmas, Malays. Even the Jungle fowl 
(the hyaena for wildness of all Gallinacese, and one that can 
well be called untamable,) although the most favored of 
his country in the way of tail, carries it drooping. That 
the*eggs are alike in color cannot weigh, because all our 
Asiatic birds lay cream or chocolate colored eggs. If 
feathered legs are to prove their identity with Cochins, 
then from that I would deduce proof of their distinctness. 
Out of large numbers I have bred, I have never had a 
clean-legged chicken. Mr. John Baily, purveyor to the 
Queen of England, says : " I have imported and bred these 
fowls for two years; I have watched them narrowly, and 
find they differ in many points from the Cochin, with which 
they are sought to be identified. They wander from home, 
and they will get their own living ; they never throw a 
clean-legged chicken ; they have deep breasts; they lay 
larger eggs, and they are hardier. I have hatched them 
in snow, and have reared them out of doors without any 
other shelter than a piece of mat or carpet thrown over 
the coop at night. 

" From, any birds that I have kept, I have never had an 
untrue chicken, all being more or less gray. They are 



36 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

hatched almost black or yellow, and the dark get lighter 
and the light darker. I have never had a clean-legged 
chicken from them." 

This breed is much esteemed in England, as also in 
France, where it was introduced in the year 1853. Mad- 
ame Millett Robinet, authoress of Basse-Cour, writes in 
the following flattering terms of the Brahmas : " The cock 
is full of pluck and pride ; he is still more developed than 
the Cochin China; his feathers are also richer and more 
brilliant. The Brahma Pootra cock, which obtained the 
first prize at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, in 1856, 
weighed 10^ pounds, and was sold for 2,500 francs (8500). 
Brahmas are good layers, good mothers, flesh very abun- 
dant, and of a good quality." 

Mariot Didieux, in writing of Brahma Pootras, says: 
" This race came from India about the year 1850, but, as 
with all beautiful races, speculation has taken hold of them. 
A couple of the pure race we know was sold at the enor- 
mous price of seventeen hundred francs, (equivalent to 
$340)." 

The Brahma Pootra is divided into two varieties, the 
dark and light ; pea, and single combed ; the selection of 
color must be entirely a matter of taste. The cocks of the 
dark variety have a black breast speckled with white ; 
thighs black ; hackle * and saddle f light ; tail black and 
spreading at the end ; yellow legs, very well feathered ; 
deep breast, very full hackle. The hens of this variety 
have bodies pencilled all over ; silver hackle— that is, 
pencilled like the silver pheasant — deep body : yellow legs, 
well feathered ; pea or single combed. The cocks and 
hens of the light variety are much alike in plumage, but 



* Hackle — The feathers growing from the neck and covering the 
shoulders and part of the hack. 

t Saddle Feathers— Those feathers growing from the end of the 
back and falling over the side. 



BEAHMA-P00TEA FOWLS. 37 

the cock frequently less marked than the hen ; entirely- 
white plumage, save the tail, and flight* feathers, which 
should be black, and the hackle, which should be black 
striped. These should also have well-feathered yellow 
legs, and either pea or single combed ; the under feathers 
of these birds should be dark. 

The Brahmas are the only fowls that are pea-combed. 
The pea-comb has the appearance of three combs pressed 
closely together, that in the centre being higher than the 
others. Another thing worthy of remark is, that in many 
of the single combs, close observation will show on either 
side the plain impression of another, the evident remains 
of that which had been a pea-comb, and by in-breeding 
had disappeared. 

The Brahma Pootras eat much less than the Cochins, and 
are amongst the best winter-layers we have; they rank 
among the very prolific producers of eggs throughout the 
year ; they seem to be as hardy as it is possible for fowls to 
be, are good sitters and mothers, and good for the table. 

The Rev. R. W. Fuller, of Massachusetts, says in a let- 
ter to W. N". Andrews, Esq., of New Hampshire : "I have 
a pair of Brahma Pootra fowls, and I consider them de- 
cidedly the most splendid and beautiful fowls ever imported. 
Their color is white, inclining on the back to a rich cream 
color, the hackles on the neck slightly streaked with black. 
The legs are yellow, heavily feathered with white, and 
shorter than the Chittagong or Shanghai, giving the fowls 
a more beautiful proportion. They are very gentle and 
peaceable in their disposition, and have a stately and grace- 
ful gait. Take them altogether, they are just the fowls for 
an amateur to fall in love with, and such as an owner with 
one spark of vanity would desire to keep in the front yard, 
that all passers-by might behold and admire them." 



* Flight Feathers— The last five feathers of the wing. 



38 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

An English writer says : "So much has been said about 
the Brahma fowl, and such a variety of opinions given as 
to whether they are a distinct breed or -not, that I will 
venture to say a little respecting them. That they are a 
distinct breed there is not the least doubt, for long before 
they were imported into this country, a brother of mine, 
who has been much in India, informed me of them, and 
pointed out most particularly the advantages they posses- 
sed over the Cochins. I have now several of these birds 
in my possession, both the dark and the light variety. 
Some months since my brother visited me, and on being 
shown the birds, at once pronounced them to be the same 
as those he had seen in India." 

Dr. Eben Wight, of Boston, in a letter speaking of the 
Brahma Pootra fowls, remarks: "A man in Connecticut 
says he has a pair, the same stock as Hatches, which he has 
weighed : cock thirteen pounds ; hen nine pounds six 
ounces ; but he refuses to sell them. That is a fine breed 
of fowds and must beat all others." 

Mr. J. C. Thomson, of Staten Island, in writing on 
Brahmas, says : " As the Brahmas had the reputation of 
being very hardy and good winter-layers, I determined to 
try them. In fact, the person in Massachusetts who fur- 
nished me with the trio, said he had a hen, in February, 
hatching a brood in a cold wood-house, when the thermo- 
meter w r as six below zero. So, to try it fairly, I put the 
old trio in an ash-house, on the shady side of the dwelling, 
so open that daylight could be seen through all the joints 
of the boards on the north side, with the upper part of the 
w T est side open lattice work. It was the coldest building I 
had, as no sun shone on it through the winter. A small 
yard on the west side of the house gave them an oppor- 
tunity to occasionally bask in the sun, on the lee side of a 
board fence. Ample food and drink, with a little cabbage, 
was daily given — grain always within their reach. One 



BKAHMA-POOTEA FOWLS. 6V 

laid right on through the coldest weather, the eggs fre- 
quently freezing in the nest. The other was evidently a 
very old bird, from the fact that she moulted in midwinter. 

" The ten pullets had better quarters, and grew finely ; 
in March they began to lay, and laid steadily all through 
the summer. My stock consisted of the three old birds, 
one spring pullet, and ten September-hatched pullets. 
Finding they were giving me an unusual number of eggs, 
especially in June, when I frequently got eight, nine, ten, 
and eleven, and sometimes twelve eggs a day, I was in- 
duced to keep an account for July and August, when I 
find they have averaged six eggs per day — equal to 2,000 
eggs per year. This month I have allowed six of them to 
sit, the last brood hatching to-day. The experience of last 
autumn satisfies me that they can be grown with success 
in the autumn and winter months, as I am able to give 
them the entire range of the garden ; they coming in as 
early layers in the spring, to take the place of early-sitting 
hens. The weight of the cocks runs from ten to twelve 
pounds, and pullets from seven to nine pounds. My year- 
old (this September) pullets weigh seven and a half pounds, 
and will, no doubt, during the coming winter run up to 
eight or nine pounds. 

" They are not large eaters, considering their size ; after 
repeated trials, when closed in a small yard, without grass, 
I find the fourteen head would only eat three pints of grain 
per day, or a fraction over a bushel each per year, and 
with a good range a bushel of grain per head would be an 
ample supply. 

" Their very quiet habits are greatly in their favor. A 
four-foot wire, picket, or lath fence, they seldom get over. 
If they should, then shorten the feathers on one wing, and 
there is no more trouble. 

" As mothers, they are excellent sitters and nurses — 
rather heavy when hatching. Chicks should be removed 



40 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

almost as fast as they are hatched, and kept warm till all 
are out. When with their chicks, they move about as 
carefully and gracefully as a turkey-hen. Being large and 
full-fledged, they will, in warm weather, care well for two 
dozen chicks — in the cooler seasons a dozen will be ample. 

" They are more disposed to sit than many other kinds. 
By shutting them up a few days, giving plenty of food 
and water, they soon give up and go to laying again. 

"As a market-bird, their fine size and plumpness make 
very desirable table-birds — their flesh, in my estimation, 
being quiet equal to the very best : in fact, when we take 
into consideration their winter-laying qualities, with all 
their other good qualities, they are just the birds for the 
million. Being fully feathered, even to their toes, protects 
them against the vicissitudes of our ever-changing climate. 

u As a lawn-bird, none excel them in beauty. A flock, 
viewed from a short distance, gracefully moving about, or 
quietly sitting in groups, are frequently mistaken for a 
flock of lambs. 

" For crossing, or bringing up the ordinary stock of the 
country to full fifty or seventy-five per cent, in value, my 
advice to poultry-growers is, to procure good male birds, 
remove all others." 

Mr. H. G. White, in the Albany Country Gentleman, 
of August 4, 1864, says : " After several years' experience 
I find this variety well adapted to the general purposes for 
which fowls are kept. 

" They possess size, beauty and hardiness in a great de- 
gree, and are very prolific. Their eggs, which are large, 
surpass all others in richness ; and, like most fowls with 
light plumage and yellow legs, their flesh is of good quality. 
I have obtained from fifty-five fowls, in the month of March, 
ninety-two and a half dozen of eggs. They excel all others 
as winter-layers. I have raised the present season a hun- 
dred and twenty-five chickens with quite ordinary care." 



D0KKING FOWLS. 41 

To form a just opinion of these fowl, it is necessary to 
study their habits and to breed them. Enough is seen in 
their shape to justify us in holding them distinct from the 
Cochin, but still more do we find it in their habits and 
produce. As a useful and hardy fowl it is unsurpassed. 
They are excellent layers of good-sized eggs, good foragers, 
when they can have their liberty, and good sitters and 
mothers. The chickens fledge more kindly than the Co-, 
chins, grow fast and are exceedingly hardy ; old and young 
take good care of themselves, and by fasting, when absti- 
nence is beneficial, often recover from ailments which would 
carry off any of a less hardy sort — in fact, I know no other 
chickens which are so hardy as they, and reared with so 
little trouble and loss, and I have no hesitation in pro- 
nouncing them the most useful fowls for the American 
farm-yard. 



THE DORKING- FOWLS. 

This breed of fowl was described by Pliny, by Colum- 
ella, and by Aldrovandus ; and has long been known to 
naturalists as the Gallus pentadactylus, or five-toed fowl. 
The breed is of great antiquity ; possibly the " couple of 
short-legged hens " which Justice Shallow, of Gloucester- 
shire, ordered for the entertainment of Sir John Falstaff, 
may have at least been closely related to it. Some sup- 
pose it to have been introduced by the Romans, as they 
esteemed a breed of fowls characterized by five toes ; and 
a five-toed variety existed in ancient Greece, for such is 
noticed by Aristotle. 

The name Dorking originated from a town of that name 
in Sussex, England ; but why, cannot be readily answered, 
for when Camden wrote his Brittauia, in 1610, Dorking 



42 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

was so inconsiderable as not even to be mentioned by him, 
and in bis map of Surrey it is marked a mere village. The 
fame of Dorking poultry was established in England about 
125 years ago ; and from that time the greatest care and 
attention have been paid to their breeding. 

The first Dorkings brought into the United States were 
introduced in about the year 1840, by Hon. L. F. Allen, 
•of Black Rock, New York. 




- WniTiJ i DORKING COCK. 

Of the Dorkings there are three varieties ; the white, 
gray, and speckled. The white has been supposed to be 
the Dorking of old fanciers. B. P. Brent says : " The 
old Dorking, the pure Dorking, the only Dorking, is the 
white Dorking ;" and that the speckled or gray Dorking 
is a recent and improved cross, by which the size was 
much increased, between the original white breed and the 



DORKING FOWLS. 43 

Malay, or some other large fowls ; but I cannot assent to 
such a proposition. Columella's favorite sort of hen could 
not differ much from the speckled Dorkings as they at 
present exist. He says : " Let them be of a reddish or 
dark plumage, and with black wings. Let the breeding 
hens, therefore, be of a choice color, a robust body, square 
built, full-breasted, with large heads, with upright and 
bright red combs ; those are believed to be the best breed 
which have five toes." 

Columella had the white sort, but he rejected them, for 
he advises : " Let the white ones be avoided, for they are 
generally both tender and less vivacious, and also are not 
found to be prolific ;" and such seems to be the prevailing 
opinion of many poultry-fanciers in the nineteenth centu- 
ry. The gray and speckled Dorkings above referred to 
have of late been prodigious favorites at all the poultry- 
shows in England and Scotland ; and are bred to great 
size' and beauty; in fact, they are larger and heavier birds 
than the white. When exhibited, rose and single-combed 
fowls compete together, but it is imperative that all their 
combs in one pen shall be alike. In plumage, also, the 
birds in a pen should match, although almost any variety as 
to color is tolerated. The gray Dorking is a large, plump, 
compact, square-made fowl, with short legs and ample fur- 
nishing. The fifth toe must be well developed, and size is 
a very important point. The following is from the pen of 
Mr. John Baily, the best judge of these fowls of any per- 
son in the world: u One of the most popular colors for hens 
in the present day is that known as Lord Hill's. The body 
of these birds is of a light slate color, the quill of each 
feather being white ; the hackle is that known as silver, 
being black and white striped ; the breast is slightly tinged 
with salmon color. The next class is a larger one — the 
grays. These may be of any color provided they are not 
brown; ash cobweb with dark hackle; semi-white with 



DOEKIXG FOWLS. 45 

dark spots; light gray, penciled with darker shades of the 
same color. With all these the most desirable match for 
a cock is one with light hackle and saddle, dark breast and 
tail ; I advisedly say dark in preference to black, because 
I think servile adherence to any given color too often ne- 
cessitated the sacrifice of more valuable qualities. I look 
on a fine Dorking cock with no less admiration if his breast ■ 
be speckled and his tail composed of a mixture of black 
and white feathers ; and such a bird is a fit and proper 
mate for any gray hens — but the gray must not be con- 
founded with the speckle ; these have a brown ground 
with white spots. One of the best judges I know of a 
Dorking fowl properly describes them as brown hens cov- 
ered with flakes of snow. These speckled hens are of two 
distinct colors, the first is known as Sir John Cathcart's 
color ; the pullets are of a rich chocolate, splashed or spot- 
ted with white ; the cocks are either black-breasted reds 
without mixture, or spotted like the hens on the breast and 
partially on the body ; it is no objection if the tail is par- 
tially colored — another speckle is of a grayish brown spot- 
ted with w T hite ; these hens should have a cock with dark 
hackle and saddle, and the wings and back should show 
some red or chestnut feathers. These last are not essen- 
. tial, but a light cock will not match speckled hens. Next 
we have brown hens ; these should have a black -breasted 
red cock, but a speckled one will pass muster." 

In the silver gray, the cock should have black breast and 
tail, and white hackle on neck and saddle. The hen should 
have a white hackle streaked with black, fight gray body, 
with light shafts to the feathers and a robin breast. 

In size, the Dorking ranks next to the large Asiatic tribe. 
It is short-legged and large bodied, and readily accumu- 
lates flesh, which is of a very good quality. Mowbray, 
when he wrote, ranked them in size in the third degree of 
the largest of fowls. The weight of the Dorking at ma- 



46 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

turity varies from five to eight pounds, and full grown 
Capons have been known to weigh from ten to twelve. 

The Dorking hen is rarely a layer of more than twenty 
eggs when she becomes broody. The eggs are usually 
of a clear white, but sometimes of an ashy-gray color, rath- 
er larger in size, weighing from 2f to 3 ounces each ; round- 
ed at both ends and of a rich flavor. They are excellent 
sitters and good mothers. Mariot Didieux, in his " Prac- 
tical Guide for the Rearing of Poultry " writes : " The 
Dorking is so highly prized by the English people because 
they know their flesh is good for the table. — In fact, by the 
color of its skin, their form, and the fineness of their bones, 
they show a great aptitude to fatten, the fat they acquire 
spreads itself well, and covers all parts of the body — fat- 
tened, they resemble an oval shaped ball of grease, very 
white, ahnost like Mother of Pearl from the fineness of 
the skin." 

Dr. Eben Wight, of Boston, says : " So far as my ex- 
perience has gone the Dorkings are decidedly the best 
breed for laying ; the eggs come abundantly and are of 
the largest size, except when they have been bred in-and- 
in too much." 

In fact, this breed of fowl can not be bred in-and-in like 
other breeds, and such is the greatest drawback to breed- . 
ing them in this country, unless a fresh-imported cock be 
introduced almost yearly amongst the hens. Many breed- 
ers of Dorkings, fearing almost total ruin in their chicken 
department, introduced a game cock ; but though he may 
replenish the yard with a robust stock of chickens, I am 
averse to any method, adopting which destroys the purity 
of a breed of fowls so excellent as these, and therefore can 
only advise this breed of poultry to be selected by those 
who either have the means or facilities of obtaining an 
imported cock at least every second year. For this rea- 
son Mr. Dixon says, after speaking of their good qualities : 



DORKING FOWLS. 47 

" With all these merits they are not found to be a profita- 
ble stock if kept thorough-bred and unmixed. Their pow- 
ers seem to fail at an early age. They are also apt to pine 
away and die just at the point of reaching maturity, par- 
ticularly the fairest specimens — that is, the most thorough- 
bred, are destroyed by this malady." 

The following is an extract from the Derby and Chester- 
field Reporter : " The common sense of the public has 
brought back the Dorking fowl to its wonted pre-eminence. 
At the sale after the Metropolitan Show, and also at the 
Birmingham Exhibition of 1854, the Dorking fowl met 
with a readier sale at larger prices than any other kind. 
The public voice has recognized it as the bird for the Eng- 
lish farm-yard ; it is altogether the pet of John Bull, as 
possessing great and good qualities without ostentation and 
clamor. The history of our county-town records no less 
than three poultry sales by public auction ; and, at each of 
those, the Dorking fowl obtained the highest bidding — 
good hens selling for as much as thirty shillings (seven 
dollars and fifty cents) each ; and further, the most success- 
ful breeders of Dorking fowls, are, at this moment, selling 
their eggs readily at three guineas (fifteen dollars) per 
dozen." 

It must be borne in mind that at the time of the writing 
of the above, the Brahma Pootra was but little known, and 
though the Dorking has many fine points (especially the 
delicacy and flavor of its flesh and handsome appearance 
when presented to the gourmand), there is one fatal 
objection to its being reared with success by the American 
farmer, and which I have described above. 

Mr. Trotter, who received a prize from the Royal Agri- 
cultural Society of England, for the best " Essay on Poul- 
try," devoted only eighteen lines to the Dorking fowl, and 
said, " this breed degenerates w T hen removed from its na- 
tive place." And as I can not believe he meant a removal 



48 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

from its native town to other parts of England, I must 
conclude he meant a removal by exportation, because he 
might as well attempt to deduce that an Alderney cow 
would degenerate by a removal from the island of that 
name in the English Channel to the wealds of Sussex, Sur- 
rey, or KentT 

I have already stated I believe the gray or speckled 
Dorking to be better than the white ; and as the first con- 
sideration is the breeding-stock, I would advise, in an ordi- 
nary farm-yard, to begin with twelve hens and two cocks, 
— the latter should agree well together. 

Too much pains can not be taken in selecting the breed- 
ing-fowls. They should not only be of the best breed, but 
the best of the breed. I should choose them with small 
heads, taper necks, broad shoulders, square bodies, white 
legs, and well-defined, five claws. It maybe well here for 
me to state why the speckled or gray are to be preferred 
to the white Dorking. They are larger, hardier, and fat- 
ten more readily ; and although it may appear anomalous, 
it is not less true, that white-feathered poultry has a ten- 
dency to yellowness in the flesh and fat. 



THE SPANISH FOWL. 

It is easy to describe this beautiful and noble race of 
fowl, as no variety of color is admissible. These birds 
must be black throughout, richly shaded with a metallic 
green lustre. A purely white face is imperatively neces- 
sary to costitute a perfect specimen. Care must be taken 
not to mistake the ear-lobe for the face, as in the very 
worst samples of the bird the former will be found quite 
white. In a first-class bird this color must be unmixed 
with red spots, and extend from the insertion of the comb 



SPANISH FOWLS. 



49 



to the gill, and from the ear-lobe to the beak. The ear- 
lobe must be large, pendant, thick, and quite free from 
any other color. 

This part of the face is more developed in the cock than 
the hen; in fact, he has it much larger than any other fowl. 




BLACK SPANTSn COCK. 



It is composed of a double skin forming a sort of bag. 
The cock should have a large upright comb reaching the 
nostril. His wattle should be very large and long, his 
breast round and protuberant, his tail ample, his carriage 
noble and very upright. The combs of the hens should 
fall over, and, when in good condition, be large enough to 
3 



50 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

hide one side of the face. Their breasts are prominent, 
but not so much as in the cocks ; their faces very long, thin, 
and skinny. The points both sexes have in common are 
taper blue legs, and deviating from the required line of 
perfection in most other fowls ; they should be long. In 
shape, the body should slant downwards from the neck to 
the tail, and narrow from the shoulders till at the end it 
approaches a point. In walking they carry themselves 
very upright. 

They are invaluable layers, because, although they are 
only moderate feeders, their eggs are larger than those of 
any other fowl. I have seen them four and a half ounces 
each. They are valuable for culinary purposes, three of 
them being equal to five of many other breeds. They do 
not sit. The best time to rear them is between April and 
June ; although not perhaps to be considered very delicate 
chickens, so far as growth is concerned. Yet it is certain 
they do not bear a check so well as many other breeds, and 
it is, therefore, well to watch them, that stimulants may be 
given in time. They are very naked when hatched, and 
are often a long time before they feather. They may be 
seen running about with black feathers in their wings, and 
scarcely any other on their bodies. 

At this period they require to be covered warmly every 
night. The great mortality among chickens of this breed 
is between two and four weeks old. Poultry-fanciers in Eng- 
land strongly recommend the use of bread and ale at least 
twice every day, and also cooked fresh meat chopped fine. 

These fowls are rather more difficult to rear than any 
other, but they repay for the labor. I have never known 
any of this breed to suffer from roup, but they are subject 
to a peculiar kind of swelled face, which comes first by 
the appearance of a small knob under the skin; it in- 
creases till it has run over one side of the face, and I know 
of no cure for it. The sex of a Spanish fowl is easily dis- 



SPANISH FOWLS. 



51 



tinguished, as the cocks show their combs plainly at a 
month old. At this age we always look for growth in 
Spanish chickens, and all faulty cocks at about seven or 
eight weeks old should be killed. The greatest fault they 
can have, and the only one that is plainly developed at an 
early age, is a drooping comb. 

The greatest merit a Spanish fowl can have is a perfect- 
ly white face ; but if a cock had the best and most fault- 




BLACK SPANISn HEJST. 

less ever seen, it would not excuse or palliate a drooping 
comb. 

The chickens, and the best of them, commonly indeed, 
almost always, have white in the flight feathers of the 
wings ; and if they appear when hatched w T ith white breasts 
it need cause no apprehension, as it is a common thing, and 
they will become black. 

Lovers of these fowls have called them, says Bailey, "the 



52 DOMESTIC POUTTRY. 

aristocracy of poultry." Fine specimens realize high prices 
in England. I have known one hundred dollars (gold) to 
be ineffectually offered for a cock and two hens. Our best 
Spanish fowl were formerly got from Holland, but the 
great demand for them, both here and in England, has 
nearly exhausted the market there. 

In the habits of the Spanish fowl there is nothing pecu- 
liar to require notice. They are not, it is true, so quiet and 
disinclined to roaming as the Cochin, but if well fed at 
home, they will not be found to stray far from their walk. 
To those who desire to eat eggs, but are obliged to class 
chickens amongst unattainable luxuries, I would advise to 
adopt Spanish, as they are " everlasting layers," but 
" non-sitters." 



THE GAME FOWL. 

Among the Greeks and Romans, the pugnacious pro- 
pensities and indomitable courage of animals, whether 
quadrupeds or birds, never failed to attract attention. 
The Romans, indeed, whose passion for the combats of the 
amphitheatre was notorious, collected not only the ferocious 
tenants of the Libyan desert for the gratification of their 
blood-thirsty disposition, but bred up dogs for the arena, 
and even sent authorized officers into Britain for the pur- 
pose of securing those terrible mastiffs for which the island 
was so celebrated, and it cannot be supposed that the 
combativeness of the game-cock would be overlooked. 
Cock-fighting was as much in vogue in Greece and Italy in 
ancient days, as it was during the last century in Great 
Britain and is at present in India, China, Malacca, and the 
adjacent islands of Sumatra and Java, etc. The Greeks 
produced several renowned breeds of game-fowls, and 



GAME FOWL. 



53 




BLACK-BREASTED RED GAME COCK. 



54 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

Media and Persia produced, others of first-rate excellence. 
On Caesar's arrival in England he found the fowl domesti- 
cated ; but these, as well as the hare, were forbidden as 
food, as it was not deemed lawful to eat them, and were 
only bred for the sake of fancy and pleasure. But it is 
probable we owe the game-fowl to the Romans, for when 
Britain was a Roman colony, it is not to be supposed that 
the Romans resident on that island would give up the 
sports to which they were so passionately addicted ; and 
as they sent British fighting-dogs to Rome, so from Rome 
might they import their fighting-cocks of Greek or Persian 
lineage. Many of us have a sort of liking for a game-cock, 
although we may abhor cock-fighting, and hundreds who 
dread their combats still cling to the breed. There are 
two sets of amateurs : one looks only to beauty of plumage ; 
the other, careless of feather scans closely those points 
that will tell in a fight. If fowls were not wanted for the 
table, and if perfect symmetry, beautiful color, hardihood, 
and daring were all that was required of them, the ama- 
teur might possess duckwings, piles (pied), or black- 
breasted reds, or any other of the numerous varieties of 
this breed, and rest content. He would, indeed, be obliged 
to limit the number of his pets, because the males will not 
agree ; and unless the young cocks are looked upon with 
pride as those that are to figure in a main, there is always 
sadness in seeing sprightly ones growing up, because it is 
certain they must be got rid of in some way, or they will 
fight among themselves till but two or three remain. Nor 
is this propensity confined to cocks ; high-bred hens are 
quite as pugnacious, and fatal contests between them are 
things of common occurrence. 

The game-cock is of bold carriage ; his comb is single, 
bright red, and upright ; his face and wattle of a beautiful 
red color; the expression of countenance fearless, but 
without the cruelty of the Malay; the eye very full and 



GAME FOWL. 55 

bright ; the beak strong, curved, well fixed in the head, 
and very stout at the roots. The breast should be full, 
perfectly straight ; the body round in hand, broad between 
the shoulders, and tapering to the tail, having the shape of 
a flat-iron, or approaching heart-shaped ; the thighs hard, 
short, and round ; the leg stout ; the foot flat and strong, 
and the spur not high on the leg. The wings are so placed 
on the body as to be available for sudden and rapid springs. 
The feathers should be hard, very strong in quills, and like 
the Malay it should seem as though all their feathers were 
glued together till they feel like one. 

A game-cock should be what fanciers call "clever." 
Every proportion should be in perfect harmony ; and the 
bird, placed on his breast in the palm of the hand, should 
exactly balance. 

This is another breed of fowl where any deviation from 
perfection is fatal. It has been well said, " a perfect one 
is not too good, and therefore an imperfect one is not good 
enough." Abundant plumage, long soft hackles and sad- 
dles, too much tail or a tail carried squirrel-fashion over 
the back, the least deviation from straightness of the 
breast-bone, long thighs, in-knees, weak beaks, or coarse 
heads, are all faults, and should be avoided. These birds 
are generally " dubbed " before they are shown at fairs or 
exhibitions. This should be neatly performed ; every super- 
fluous piece of skin and flesh being removed, so that the 
head should stand out of the hackle as though it were 
shaven. The plumage should also be so scanty that the 
shape of the bird, especially the tapering of the back and 
the roundness of the body, may be seen. Every feather 
should feel as if made of whalebone, and, if raised with the 
finger, should fall into its original place. It should be 
almost impossible to ruffle the plumage of a game-cock. 
The tail should be rather small than otherwise, and be car- 
ried somewhat drooping. The plumage of these birds is 



56 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

trimmed before they fight. This is called " cutting out," 
and the less there is to remove in the way of feather the 
better for the bird. They are in every respect fighting 
birds, and every one who sees a set-to between two of 
them must look on with pleasure, if it occurs as they pass 
through a yard. The hens should be like the cocks, allow- 
ing for difference of sex ; the necks and heads fine, legs 
taper, plumage hard, and combs small, upright and serrated. 
Hens should not be chosen with large or loose combs, and 
they should handle as hard as the cocks. 

A word or two may not be out of place as to the table- 
properties of this beautiful breed. It is true they are in 
noway fit for the fattening-coop ; they cannot bear the 
extra food without excitement, and that is not favorable to 
obesity. Nevertheless, they have their merits. If they 
are allowed to run semi-wild in the woods, to frequent 
sunny banks and dry ditches, they will grow full of meat, 
though with little fat. They must be eaten young, and a 
game-pullet four or five months old, caught up wild in this 
way and killed two days before she is eaten, is, perhaps, 
the most delicious chicken there is in point of flavor. 

The classes into which the game fowls are divided are : 
black-breasted red, brown red, duckwings, and other grays 
and bines, white and pyles (or pieds), and black, and brassy- 
winged, and shawl-necks, or what are sometimes called 
Irish grays, which are of the largest class. 

Among all the varieties of the game-fowls, the prece- 
dence must be given to that variety known as "Lord 
Derby's breed," which have been kept and bred with 
great care for upwards of one hundred years, at Knowlsley, 
and still maintain their high reputation. The following is 
a description of the cock of that breed : he is of a good 
round shape, well put together; has a fine long head; 
long and strong neck ; wings large and well quilled ; back 
short ; belly round and black ; tail black and sickled, being 



GAME FOWL. 57 

well tufted at the root ; legs rather long, with white feet 
and nails ; plumage, deep, rich red and maroon ; and breast 
and thighs black. The Derby red hens possess little of 
their consort's brilliancy of feather ; their body is brown, 
each feather-shaft being light ; the breast and hackle being 
also light. 

The Duckwings are among the most beautiful of all game- 
fowls. The cocks vary in the color of their hackle, saddle 
and breast feathers ; the hackle-feathers of some strains 
being nearly white, in others yellow; while with some 
again, the breasts are black, with some streaky, and with 
some gray. 

The color of the eggs of the game-hen varies from a dull 
white to a fawn. They are good layers, as many as twenty- 
four eggs being constantly laid by them, before they mani- 
fest a desire to sit. 

As sitters, game-hens have no superiors. Quiet on their 
eggs, regular in the hours for coming off and returning to 
their charge, and confident, from their fearless disposition, 
of repressing the incursions of any intruder, they rarely 
fail to bring off good broods. Hatching accomplished, 
their merits appear in a still more conspicuous light. Ever 
on their guard, not even the shadow of a bird overhead, 
or the approach of man or beast, but finds them ready to 
do battle for their offspring ; and instances have been known 
where rats and other vermin have thus fallen before them. 



3* 



58 



DOMESTIC POULTRY. 




MALAY COCK. 



THE MALAY FOWL. 



This is another of the Asiatic breed, supposed to come 
from the islands of Sumatra or Java, and, though former- 
ly much fancied and sought after, has of late years been 
suffered to decline. It has fallen before the spirit of utili- 
ty ; it was not useful, and it has lost ground. It is a long 



MALAY FOWL. 59 

rather than a large bird, standing remarkably upright, 
falling in an almost uninterrupted slope from the head to 
the insertion of the tail, which is small and drooping, hav- 
ing very beautiful but short sickle-feathers. It has a hard, 
cruel expression of face, a bold eye, pearled around the 
edge of the lids, a hard, small comb, scarcely so long as 
the head, having much the appearance of a double comb 
trimmed very small and then flattened ; a red, skinny face, 
very strong curved beak, and the space for an inch below 
it on the throat destitute of feathers. It has long yellow 
legs, quite clean ; it is remarkable for very hard plumage, 
and the hinder-parts of the cock look like those of a game- 
cock trimmed for fighting. The hen is of course smaller 
than the cock. She has the same expression of face, the 
same curious comb ; and in both sexes the plumage should 
be so hard that when handled it should feel as though one 
feather covered the body. From this cause the wings of 
the -hen are more prominent than in other fowls, projecting 
something like those of a carrier-pigeon, though in a less 
degree. It is a beauty in the birds if the projection or 
knobs of flesh at the crop, on the end wing joint, and at 
the top of the breast are naked and red. They are good 
layers and sitters ; their eggs have a dark shell, and are 
said to be superior in flavor to any other. 

The chickens feather slowly, on which account no brood 
should be hatched after July ; otherwise the cold and va- 
riable weather of autumn comes upon them before they 
are half grown, and the increase of their bodies has so far 
outstripped that of their feathers, that they are half naked 
about the neck and shoulders, which renders them ex- 
tremely susceptible of wet and cold. The chickens are 
not difficult to rear ; but are gawky, long-legged creatures 
until they have attained their full growth, and then fill out. 

The original colors were, cocks of a bright, rich red, with 
black breast ; and hens of a blight chocolate or cinnamon 



60 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

color, generally one entire shade, but in some instances 
the hackles were darker than the rest of the plumage. 
Some beautiful white specimens have lately been introduced, 
and a few years ago there was a handsome breed of them 
colored like pied games. 

The Malays have one great virtue ; they will live any- 
where ; they will inhabit a back yard of small dimensions ; 
they will scratch in the dust-pit and roost in a coal-hole, 
and yet lay well and show in good condition when requisite. 

The Malays are inveterate fighters, and this is the quali- 
ty for which they are chiefly prized in their native country, 
where cock-fighting is carried to the extent of excessive 
gambling. Men and boys may be frequently met, each 
carrying his favorite bird under his arm, ready to set to 
work the moment the opportunity shall offer. 



THE COCHIN-CHINA FOWL. 

The record of the Cochin-China Fowls will always form an 
important chapter in the history of poultry. They were in- 
troduced in the year 1845, and were first possessed by Queen 
Victoria, and soon after became known and popular. They 
were scarce, and this made people anxious to possess them. 
Men became frantic after Cochin-China fowls, and this 
went on at an increasing ratio until the prices paid became 
ridiculous ; a hundred good Cochins would purchase a 
small farm, and a cock and two hens, from favorite strains, 
were thought cheap if bought for less than two hundred 
and fifty dollars. They have, however, after fluctuating in 
value more than anything except railroad shares, fallen in 
price, for prices were unnaturally enhanced. They are 
now within the reach of all, and are favorites with a large 
portion of the public. 



COCHIN CHINA FOWL. 



61 



The Cochin-China Cock, is a bold, upright bird, with 
erect, indented single comb rising from the beak over the 
nostril, projecting over the neck, and then slanting away 
underneath to allow the root to be fixed on the top of the 




COCHIN CHINA COCK AND HEN. 



head. The beak is strong and curved, the eye bold, the 
face red, the wattle pendant, and the ear-lobe very long, 
hanging much lower than in other fowls. He is a bird of 
noble carriage, and differs from most other fowls in the 



62 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

following points : He has little tail ; indeed, in very fine 
specimens, it may be said they have none ; they have the 
hackle large and long ; it falls from the neck to the back, 
and from its termination there is a small, gradual rise, to 
where the tail should be, but where its apology, some 
glossy, slightly twisted feathers, fall over like those of an 
ostrich. The next peculiarities of these birds are what are 
technically called " the fluff" and " the crow." The former 
is composed of beautifully soft, long feathers, covering the 
thighs till they project considerably, and garnishing all the 
hinder parts of the bird in the same manner ; so much so 
that to view the widest part of the Cochin-China cock, you 
must look at him behind. His crow is to the crow of other 
cocks what the railway whistle is to that of the errand-boy 
in the streets ; it is loud, hoarse, and amazingly prolonged. 
They seem to delight in it, and will continue it till they 
are on tiptoe, and are compelled to exchange their usual 
erect position for one in which the neck is curved, and the 
head brought down to the level of the knees. The pullet 
has most points in common with the cock; her head is 
beautiful ; the comb small, very upright, with many indenta- 
tions ; the face, if I may use the term, intelligent. Her 
body is much deeper in proportion than that of the cock ; 
her fluff is softer, having almost a silky texture ; her car- 
riage is less erect. She has none of the falling feathers at 
the tail, but the little she has is upright, and should come 
to a blunt point, nothing like the regular rounded tails of 
other hens. In both, the legs should be yellow, and well 
feathered to the toes ; flesh-colored legs are admissible, but 
green, black, or white are defects. In buying them avoid 
long tails, clean legs, fifth toes, and double combs ; above 
all, take care the cock has not, nor ever has had, sickle 
feathers. 

The colors are buff, lemon, cinnamon, grouse, partridge, 
white and black ; they are very good layers, laying at a 



HAMBURG FOWL. 63 

certain age, without any regard to weather or time of 
year, beginning soon after they are five months old. The 
snow may fall, the frost may be thick on your windows 
when you first look out on a December morning, but your 
Cochins will provide you eggs. 

They do not lose their qualities as they get older, but 
they lose their beauty sooner than any other, and every 
year seems to increase the difficulty of moulting. The age 
of beauty in a Cochin-China fowl is from nine to eighteen 
months. After this the hens become coarse ; their feathers 
grow with difficulty ; their fluff is a long time coming, and 
the beautiful, intelligent head is exchanged for an old, care- 
worn expression of face. The tails of the cocks increase 
as they get older. 

Too much cannot be said in favor of their gentleness and 
contented disposition ; a fence four feet high suffices to 
keep them from wandering, and they allow themselves to 
be taken from their perch and replaced, to be handled, ex- 
hibited, or made any use of, without the least ojDposition. 
They are also most valuable in a yard as layers during the 
winter months, and setters early in the year. They are 
broody when others are beginning to lay. 



HAMBURG FOWL. 

It is not definitely known where this breed of fowl 
originated ; some assign its origin to Hamburg or vicinity, 
others to Holland. The pencilled Hamburg fowl is a 
beautiful bird. There are two sorts, the golden and the 
silver ; they differ in one respect only, the fundamental 
color of one is white and the other a brown yellow ; one 
description will serve for both. They have bright double 
combs, which should be firmly fixed on the head, inclining 



64 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

to neither side, nor even being loose, ending in a point 
which should turn upwards ; clear hackles, either white or 
yellow ; taper blue legs, and ample tails ; bodies and tails 
accurately pencilled with black everywhere except the 
neck. The more correct the marking, the more valuable 
the bird. Their carriage is gay and proud ; their shape is 
symmetrical, and their appearance is altogether indicative 
of cheerfulness, and carries an air of enjoyment which al- 
ways prepossesses one in their favor. 

The plumage of the cocks differs somewhat from the 
hens. They are very little speckled, if at all, except while 
chickens, when the wings and hinder parts are marked ; 
but this seldom lasts after the first month. In the silver 
variety the cock is almost white, having sometimes a chest- 
nut patch on the wing, and towards the tail some black 
spots, but these disappear as he gets older. The tail 
should be black and the sickle-feathers tinged with a red- 
dish white ; while, in the golden cock, they should be 
shaded with a rich bronze or copper. The cock of the- 
golden is red all over, and must have well defined white 
deaf-ears. 

No fowls require more watching than these, if it be de- 
sired to breed them for exhibition. Degeneracy shows 
itself in the cocks either by the black tail, or one in which 
white or silver predominates, or by the absence of the 
white deaf-ear — all these must be fatal to success. In the 
hens it is apparent in spotted hackles, and in patchy plu- 
mage. The delicate and distinct pencilling is lost, and a 
cloudy, uneven mixture takes its place. This is fatal to 
them as first-class birds. 

The great virtue and merit of these fowls is, they are 
prodigious layers ; and this is not brought about by any 
undue feeding ; it is their nature. They are said never to 
sit, and as a rule it is true of them ; but one in a thousand 
deviates from it. And then only when they have a run 



POLAXD FOWL. 65 

through grounds covered with wood, thereby clearly de- 
monstrating the fact that domestication has impaired their 
sitting powers — originally they must have hatched their 
eggs like other fowls. They are excellent guards in the 
country ; for, when disturbed in their roosting-place, they 
are the noisiest of the noisy, and nothing but death or 
liberty will induce them to hold their peace. In these, as 
in other birds, erroneous ideas and names have crept in ; 
some being correct descriptions of the same fowl under 
another name, but others being imaginative, so far as real 
Hamburg fowls are concerned. 

The Bolton grays and bays, and Chitteprats are identical 
with the Hamburg; they were also called Turkish and 
Creoles, which were the same as a general rule, it may be 
observed. No true-bred Hamburg fowl has top-knot, 
single comb, white legs, any approach to feather on the 
legs, white tail, or spotted hackle. 



POLAND FOWL. 



The original Poland fowls were black, with white top- 
knots, and gold and silver spangled. There was formerly 
a breed of white, with black top-knot, but that is lost. 
There are now white, black and spangled. The crest of 
the Poland cock should be composed of straight feathers, 
something like those of a hackle or saddle ; they should 
grow from the centre of the crown, and fall over outside, 
forming a circular crest. That of the hen should be made 
up of feathers growing out, and turning in at the extrem- 
ity, till they form a large top-knot, which should hi shape 
resemble a cauliflower. It should be as nearly round as 
possible, and firm. The largest top-knots are often made 
up of loose feathers, that give it an uneven appearance. 



POLAND FOWL. 67 

ISTow, however large these may be, they cannot compare 
or compete with symmetrical and firm, though smaller 
ones ; the carriage is upright, and the breast more protu- 
berant than in any other fowl save the Sebright Bantam ; 
the body is very round and full, slightly tapering to the 
tail, which is carried erect, and which is ample, spreading 
towards the extremity in the hen, and having well-defined 
sickle-feathers ; in the cock, the legs should be lead-colored 
or black, and rather short than otherwise. In the black 
variety there should be no white feathers, save in the top- 
knot ; in that it is desirable there should be no black ones, 
but I have never yet seen any without them. It is a very 
common practice to cut them off close to the skin, so that 
it appears perfect, but at the first moult they reappear. 

In the golden and silver varieties, the spangling of the 
feathers should be black, and as correct and regular as pos- 
sible ; the ground-color should be rich golden tint in the 
one, and frosted silver in the other. In both cocks and 
hens the wings should be laced ; each feather should have 
a black marking running the length of it, and when the 
wing is closed, it should show three or four stripes, termi- 
ated on each feather by a distinct hackle. There exists a 
difference of opinion as to the marking of the breasts of 
the cock; some like it dark, others spangled; English 
fanciers prefer the latter. Spangled varieties should have 
top-knots the same color as the fowls ; every feather should 
be laced like those of the Sebright Bantam, although it is 
very difficult to obtain them quite so distinct, many show- 
ing white feathers, which increase as the birds grow older. 

In the cocks of the black breed, with white top-knots, 
gills are allowed, but no combs. For golden and silver 
spangled, neither combs nor gills, nor even the least spikes, 
can be tolerated. These birds are very subject to deform- 
ity, and crooked backs are common among them. The 
amateur who wishes to purchase will do well, when he 



68 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

holds the birds in his left hand, to lay the palm of his right 
flat on its back. In passing it gently down he will often 
detect one hip higher than the other, or he will find a 
curve in the backbone from the hips to the tail. As these 
are transmitted to their offspring, and it is often difficult 
to get good crosses, such birds should always be rejected. 



BANTAMS. 



Bantams have long been favorites ; their small size, their 
beauty, and their impudence gaining them admirers. Many 
years since, only those that w T ere feathered to the toes 
were admired. The late John Sebright, by much atten- 
tion and a thorough knowledge of the subject, succeeded 
in producing birds of surpassing beauty and symmetry. 
Those that bear his name are the most appreciated by fan- 
ciers. They are of two colors, gold and silver ; they must 
have double combs, with pointed end and rising upwards, 
and well-seated on the head, firmly fixed, not inclining to 
one side, nor yet raised on a fleshy pedestal ; laced feath- 
ers, each being edged with black ; blue legs, without even 
the sign of a feather on them ; upright tail, tipped with 
black at the point, which must be round and equal in width 
to the widest part of the feather ; there should not be 
even a tendency to a curve in it. The side tail-feathers 
rising from the back to the tail should also be flat, round- 
topped and accurately laced. There must not be any 
hackle or saddle. These are the principal points of the 
male. The hen requires the same comb, the same accurate 
lacing, the prominent breast, drooping wing ; her head 
should be very small, beak sharp. The carriage of these 
birds should resemble that of a good Fantail pigeon ; the 
head and tail should be carried up in the strut of the bird, 



70 DOMESTIC POULTEY. 

till they nearly meet, and the wing should drop down the 
side, instead of being carried up. In both sexes the 
wing-feathers should be tipped with black, and even the 
long feathers laced. Like all other first-class birds, these 
are difficult to get ; and lest amateurs should be discour- 
aged, I may almost venture to say, a faultless bird is hard- 
ly to be found. From the best-bred parents, single-combed 
chickens will constantly appear, but these will again pro- 
duce perfectly double-combed progeny. Such are, howev- 
er, only to be trusted, when the possessor of them is sure 
that, although defective themselves, their parents were 
faultless in this particular. It is never advisable to breed 
from a faulty bird, if a perfect one can be obtained. Small 
size is a desideratum in these fowls. They are, therefore, 
seldom bred early, as growth is not desired. July is early 
enough to hatch them. Perfect cocks should not weigh 
more than seventeen ounces, nor hens more than fourteen. 
Other Bantams, to pretend to excellence, should be di- 
minutive as the Sebright, and should have the same arro- 
gant gait ; but they differ, inasmuch as the males should 
be large cocks in miniature, with hackle, saddle, and fully 
developed tail. The rule of comb is not so imperative. In 
black and white birds it should be double ; but it is not so 
necessary, nor does the substitution of a single one cause 
disqualification. In the black breeds, white deaf-ears are 
necessary to excellence ; and in these and the white the 
sickle-feathers should be long and well carried. Feather- 
ed-legged Bantams may be of any color. The old-fashion- 
ed birds were very small, falcon-hocked, and feathered 
with long quill-feathers to the extremity of the toe. Many 
of them were bearded — they are now very scarce. The 
Bantams are good layers, sitters and mothers, and easily 
reared. 



FRENCH BEEEDS OF FOWLS. 



FRENCH BREEDS OF FOWLS. 

Within the last couple of years some valuable importa- 
tions of new breeds of poultry have been made into Eng- 
land from France ; but I am not aware that they are known 
on this continent. They have, however, become sufficient- 
ly known and appreciated by our British cousins as to de- 
mand our attention ; and, in giving a notice of them, I 
admit my obligation to the excellent work published by 
Mr. Ch. Jacque, in Paris, entitled " Le Poulailler," which 
enables me to give many details that would otherwise be 
wanting. 

THE HOUDAX. 

This bird has short thick legs, and a round, well-propor- 
tioned body, large head, small top-knot, falling backward. 
It is bearded, and has five claws on each foot. It is a 
good-sized fowd, weighing, when fully grown — cock, 6 lbs.; 
hen, from 4J to 5 lbs. The plumage should be speckled, 
white, black, and straw color. The comb is the most re- 
markable part of this bird ; and I can not do better than 
quote my before-named authority : " Comb, triple, trans- 
versal in the direction of the beak, composed of two flat- 
tened spikes, of long and rectangular form, opening from 
right to left like two leaves of a book, thick, fleshy, and 
variegated at the edges. A third spike grows between 
these two, having somewhat the shape of an irregular 
straw r berry, and the size of a long nut. Another, quite 
detached from the others and about the size of a pea, 
should show between the nostrils and above the beak." 
This gives the bird a grotesque appearance, and there is 
an air of impudent drollery and humor about him that is 
peculiar to the breed. The legs are dark leaden grey. In 



FRENCH BREEDS OF FOWLS. 73 

this breed the hens approach more nearly the weight of 
the cock than is usual. The hen is bearded and top-knot- 
ted, the latter appendage almost concealing the eyes. 
These fowls are very popular in France, as layers and 
table-fowls. 

THE CREVECCEUE. 

This is better known than any of the French fowl ; it is 
one of the best layers, not only on account of number, but 
also of size, being equal in this respect to the Spanish. It 
is a short-legged breed, square-bodied, deep chest, well 
shaped for the table. 

Like most of these breeds, it is bearded and top-knotted, 
but the latter appendage is not that of the Poland. It is 
more like a crest, and allows room in front for the comb. 
This is singularly shaped, and I shall again quote Mr. 
Jacque : " Comb various, but always forming two horns ; 
sometimes parallel, straight and fleshy, sometimes joined 
at the base, slightly notched, pointed, and separating at 
their extremities ; sometimes adding to this latter descrip- 
tion interior ramifications like the horns of a young deer." 
The same author says : " The comb, shaped like horns, 
gives the Crevecceur the aj)pearance of a devil." The legs 
should be black, or very dark slate blue. The plumage 
should be entirely black, with bright blue and green metal- 
lic lustre, except the feathers of the belly, which are dark 
brown. The top-knot, as in Polands, will become partly 
white, after moulting two or three times. 

Many have their hackles, saddles, and wing-coverts straw 
color. These are not less pure, and they will breed black 
chickens ; but they are less esteemed by very particular 
amateurs. The hens should weigh from 5 lbs. to 6 lbs. 
each ; the cock, 7 lbs. to 7-V lbs. Just as the Houdan has 
a roguish air and deportment, so the Crevecoeur is staid, 
solemn, and grave. 
4 



74 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

LA FLECHE. 

This is a singular bird, and no description will serve bet- 
ter than that of Mr. Jacque; " A strong, firm body, well 
seated on its legs, and long muscular feet. Appearing less 
than it really is, because the feathers are close ; every mus- 
cular part well developed ; black plumage. The La Fleche 
is the tallest of all French cocks; it has many points of re- 
semblance with the Spanish, from which I believe it to be 
descended, by crossing with the Crevecceur. It has white, 
loose, and transparent skin ; short, juicy, and delicate flesh, 
which puts on fat easily. As layers they are superior, like 
the Crevecceur, to any breed except the Spanish ; but yet, 
for table use, they are not as good as the Dorking. 

The La Fleche has the body of the Spanish placed on 
legs that are forward, being immediately under the breast 
rather than the body of the bird. It has a bold, cheerful, 
lively face ; but the general impression is curious from the 
extraordinary comb, which I will describe from M. Jacque : 
" Transversal double, forming two horns bending forward, 
united at their base, divided at their summits ; sometimes 
even and pointed, sometimes having ramifications on the 
inner sides. A little combling protrudes from the upper 
part of the nostrils ; and, although hardly as large as a pea, 
this combling, which surmounts the sort of rising formed 
by the protrusion of the nostrils, contributes to the singu- 
lar aspect of the head. This measured prominence of the 
comb seems to add to the characteristic depression of the 
beak, and gives the bird a likeness to a rhinoceros." 

It should have a large deaf-ear, perfectly white, not so 
large as the Spanish, but larger than that of any other fowl, 
slate-blue legs, darker or lighter according to age, turning 
to a spotted grey as they get old. The hen differs from the 
cock by having a smaller comb ; she must have a white 
ear-lobe. These are a peculiar but a stylish breed ; they 
are very good layers, and the chickens are easy to rear. 

> 



DOMESTIC TURKEY. 75 



THE DOMESTIC TURKEY, 

BEEEDIXG AND MANAGEMEOT. 

The domestic turkey can scarcely be said to be divided, 
like the common fowl, into distinct breeds ; although there 
is indeed considerable variation in color, and also in size. 
The finest and strongest turkeys are said to be those of a 
bronzed black, resembling as closely as possible the original 
stock ; they are reared the most easily, are large, and fat- 
ten rapidly. Some turkeys are of a coppery tint, others of 
a delicate fawn color, others parti-colored gray and white, 
and some few of a pure snowy white. All these are con- 
sidered inferior to the black ; their color indicates some- 
thing like degeneracy of constitution, and they are seldom 
very large-sized. 

To describe the domestic turkey is superfluous; the voice 
of the male, the changing colors of the skin of the head 
and neck ; his proud strut, with expanded tail and lowered 
wings jarring on the ground; his irrascibility, readily ex- 
cited by red or scarlet colors, are characteristics with which 
all are conversant. Turkey-cocks are pugnacious and vin- 
dictive, and often ill-treat the hens ; they have been known 
to attack children ; and combats between them and the 
game-cock have taken place, in which the latter was more 
oppressed by the weight of his antagonist than by gladia- 
torial skill ; in fact, the bulky hero has usually been worsted, 
as he cannot use his spurs with the address exhibited by 
the game-cock, which, moreover, fights with method. 

The adult turkey is extremely hardy, and bears the cold 
of our winter with impunity ; during the severest weather, 
flocks will roost at night upon the branches of tall trees, 
preferring such accomodation to an indoor dormitory. 



DOMESTIC rOULTRY. 




BRONZE TURKEY GOBBLER. 



The impatience of restraint and restlessness of the turkey 
render it unfit company for fowls in their roosting-places ; 
in fact, the fowl-house is altogether an improper place for 
these large birds, which require open sheds and high per- 
ches, and, altogether, as much freedom as is consistent 
with their safety. Although turkeys will roost, even during 



DOMESTIC TURKEY. 77 

the winter months, on trees, this should by no means be 
allowed ; the feet of the birds are apt to become frozen 
from such exposure to the air. It must be remembered 
that the domestic turkey, hardy as it is when adult, is not 
equal in point of endurance to its wild relative, bred in the 
woods and inured to the elements. Turkeys are fond of 
wandering about hedgerows and the borders of fields ; 
they love to visit turnip-fields, where, besides the leaves 
of turnips, which they relish, they find insects, slugs, etc., 
which they greedily devour. 

In the morning they should have a good supply of grain, 
and after their return from their peregrinations, another 
feed ; by this plan not only will the due return home of 
the flock be insured, but the birds will be kept in good con- 
dition, and ready at any time to be put upon fattening diet. 

In the choice of birds for stock, care is requisite. The 
cock should be vigorous, broad in the breast, clean in the 
legs; with ample wings and a well-developed tail-plumage ; 
his eyes should be bright, and the carunculated skin of the 
neck full and rapid in its changes of color. The hen should 
be like the cock in plumage ; those with white feathers 
appearing amidst the black should be rejected ; her figure 
should be plump, and her actions lively and animated. 
The hen breeds when a year old, or rather in the spring 
succeeding that in which she herself left the egg ; but she 
is not in her prime until the age of two or three years, and 
will continue for two or three years more in full constitu- 
tional vigor. 

About the middle of March, generally speaking, the 
female commences laying ; she indicates the coming event 
by a peculiar cry, by strutting about with an air of self- 
satisfaction, and often by prying into out-of-the-way places, 
evidently in quest of a secret spot for incubation ; for the 
instinctive dread of the male is not removed by domestica- 
tion, nor has the male lost that antipathy to the eggs which 



78 



DOMESTIC POULTRY. 



is his characteristic in a state of nature. She should now 
be closely watched, and some management is required to 
induce her to lay in the nest assigned to her. The nest 
should be prepared of straw and dried leaves ; it should be 
secluded ; and to excite her to adopt it, an egg, or a piece 
of chalk cut into the form of an egg, should be placed in 




BRONZE HEX-TURKEY. 

it. When her uneasiness to lay is evident, and symptoms 
prove that she is ready, she should be confined in the shed, 
barn, or place in which her nest (which should be a wicker 
basket) is prepared, and let out as soon as the egg is laid. 
The turkey-hen is a steady sitter ; nothing will induce her 
to leave her nest ; indeed, she often requires to be removed 



DOMESTIC TURKEY. 79 

to her food, so overpowering is her instinctive affection. 
The hen should on no account be rashly disturbed, no one 
except the person to whom she is accustomed, and from 
whom she receives her food, should be allowed to go near 
her, and the eggs should not be meddled with. On about 
the twenty-sixth day, the chicks leave the eggs, and these, 
like young fowls, do not require food for several hours. It 
is useless to cram them as some do, fearing lest they should 
starve. When the chicks feel an inclination for food, 
nature directs them how to pick it up. There is no oc- 
casion for alarm if for many hours they content themselves 
w T ith the warmth of their parent and enjoy her care only. 
Yet some food must be provided for them, and this should 
be of course suited to their nature and appetite ; here, 
too, let the simplicity of nature be a guide. 

The first diet offered to turkey-chicks should consist of 
eggs boiled hard and finely mixed, or curd with bread- 
crumbs and the green part of onions, parsley, etc., chopped 
very small and mixed together so as to form a loose, 
crumby paste ; oatmeal with a little water may also be 
given. They will require water ; but this should be put 
into a very shallow vessel, so as to insure against the 
danger of the chicks getting wet. Both the turkey-hen 
and her chickens should be housed for a few days ; they 
may then, if the weather be fine, be allowed a few hours' 
liberty during the day, but should a shower threaten, they 
must be put immediately under shelter. This system must 
be persevered in for three or four weeks. By this time 
they will have acquired considerable strength, and will 
know how to take care of themselves. As they get older, 
meal and grain may be given more freely. They now 
begin to search for insects and to dust their growing plu- 
mage in the sand. At the age of about two months, or 
perhaps a little more, the males and females begin to 
develop their distinctive characteristics. 



80 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

In the young males, the carunculated skin of the neck 
and throat, and the contractile horn-like comb on the fore- 
head, assume a marked character. This is a critical period. 
The system requires a full supply of nutriment and good 
housing at night is essential. Some recommend that a 
few grains of Cayenne pepper, or a little bruised hempseed, 
be mixed with their food. The distinctive sexual marks 
once fairly established, the young birds lose the name 
of " chicks," or " chickens," and are termed " turkey- 
poults." The time of danger is over, and they become 
independent, and every day stronger and more hardy. 
They now fare as the rest of the flock, on good and suf- 
ficient food. 

With respect to the diseases of the turkey, with them as 
with all other poultry, prevention is better than cure. The 
most important rules are, let the chicks never get wet, and 
encourage them to eat heartily by giving a good variety 
of food ; yet to beware of injuring the appetite by too 
much pampering. Taking a pride in them is the great 
secret of success in the rearing of domestic poultry. 






THE GUINEA FOWL. 

The common Guinea fowl is a native of Africa, where it 
appears to be extensively distributed. It frequents the open 
glades and borders of forests, the banks of rivers, and other 
localities where grain, seeds, berries, insects, etc., offer an 
abundant supply of food. It is gregarious in its habits, asso- 
ciating in considerable flocks, which wander about during 
the day and collect together on the approach of evening. 
They roost in clusters on the branches of trees or large 
bushes, ever and anon uttering their harsh, grating cry, till 
they settle fairly for the night. The Guinea fowl does not 



GUINEA FOWL. 81 

trust much to its wings as a means of escape from danger ; 
indeed it is not without some difficulty that these birds can 
be forced to take to flight, and then they wing their way 
only a short distance, when they alight and trust to their 
swiftness of foot. They run with^very great celerity, are 
shy and wary, and seek refuge amongst the dense under- 
wood, threading the mazes of their covert with wonderful 
address. The female incubates in some concealed spot on 
the ground. Like all the gallinaceous birds, the Guinea fowl 
is esteemed for its flesh and its eggs, which, though smaller 
than those of the common fowl, are very excellent and nu- 
merous. The hen commences to lay in the month of May 
and continues during the entire summer. The Guinea fowl 
is of a wild, shy, rambling disposition ; and, domesticated 
as it is, pertinaciously retains its original habits, and is 
impatient of restraint. It loves to wander along hedge- 
rows, over meadows, through corn-fields or clover, and 
amidst copses and shrubberies ; hence these birds require 
careful watching, for the hens will lay in secret places, and 
will sometimes absent themselves entirely from the farm- 
yard until they return with a young brood around them. 

So ingeniously will they conceal themselves and their 
nest, so cautiously leave it and return to it, as to elude the 
searching glance of boys well used to bird-nesting ; but it 
may always be found from the watchful presence of the 
cock while the hen is laying. There is one disadvantage 
in this — the bird will sit at a late period, and bring forth 
her brood when the season is too cold for the tender chick- 
ens. The best plan is, to contrive that the hen shall lay in 
a quiet, secluded place, and to give about twenty of the 
earliest eggs to a common hen ready to receive them, who 
will perform the duties of incubation with steadiness. In 
this way a brood in June can be easily obtained. The 
young must receive the same treatment as those of the 
turkey, and equal care ; they require a mixture of boiled 
4* 



82 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

vegetables, with curds, farinaceous food, as grits, meal, etc.; 
they should be induced to eat as often and as much as they 
will. In a short time they begin to search for insects and 
their larvas ; and with a little addition to such a fare as this, 
and with what vegetable matter they pick up, they will keep 
themselves in good game condition without cramming or 
overfeeding. For a week or two before being killed for 
the table they should have a liberal allowance of grain and 
meal. Guinea fowls mate in pairs; overlooking this cir- 
cumstance frequently occasions disappointmeut in the 
broods. The period of incubation is twenty-six days. 
Though they are not unprofitable birds, as they are capable 
of procuring almost entirely their own living, they are re- 
jected by many on account both of their wandering habits, 
which give trouble, and their disagreeable voice. The 
males when pugnaceous, though spurless, are capable of in- 
flicting considerable injury on other poultry with their 
stout, hard beaks. 

Like their wild progenitors, domestic Guinea fowls pre- 
fer roosting in the open air to entering a fowl-house ; they 
generally choose the lower branches of some tree, or those 
of large thick bushes, and there congregate together in 
close array ; before going to roost they utter frequent calls 
to each other, and when one mounts, the others follow in 
rotation. They retire early, before the common fowl. 

The Guinea fowl is not so large a bird as it appears, its 
loose, full plumage making it seem larger than it is ; it 
does not, when plucked, w r eigh more than a common fowl. 
The male and female very much resemble each other ; the 
male, however, has the casque higher, and the wattles are of 
a blueish red — the wattles in the female are smaller, and red. 



DOMESTIC GOOSE. 



83 




TOULOUSE GEESE. 



THE DOMESTIC GOOSE. 

The domestication of the goose, like that of the domes- 
tic fowl, is hidden in the remotest ages of antiquity. 
Among the Greeks and Romans, it seems to have been the 
only really domesticated water-fowl they possessed, and 
appears to have held exactly the same place in their esteem 
that it still retains with us after the lapse of two or nearly 
three thousand years. 



84: DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

. Geese require a dormitory apart from other poultry, and 
a green field, or common, with a convenient pond of wa- 
ter — often at command in the country. Let not, however, 
the keeper of geese suppose that their daily grazing is suf- 
ficient for their maintenance in proper condition, as they 
require, in addition, a supply of grain, oats or barley, 
morning and evening, and with this they will do credit to 
their keep ; many young geese, common-fed only, pine and 
die for want of sufficient nutriment. Dysentery attacks 
them, accompanied by spasms of the limbs, or cramps as it 
is called ; this disease is aggravated by cold and wet, their 
impoverished system is destitute of stamina, and thus a fair 
flock prospering in spring, is more than decimated before 
autumn. In allowing geese to range at large, it is requi- 
site to be aware that they are very destructive to all garden 
and farm crops, as well as to young trees, and must there- 
fore be carefully excluded from orchards and cultivated 
fields. 

If we traverse a pasture or common, on which geese 
are kept, Ave find the flocks of the respective owners keep- 
ing together : and if by chance they mingle on the pond 
or sheet of water, they separate towards evening, and re- 
tire each flock to its own domicile. On extensive com- 
mons where many thousands of geese are kept, the rule is 
scarcely ever broken ; the flocks of young geese brought 
up together, as their parents were before them, form a 
united band, and thus distinct groups herd together, bound 
by the ties of habit. 

Those who breed geese generally assign one gander to 
four or five females. In mild seasons the goose lays early. 
She sits with exemplary patience, but ought, during incu- 
bation, to be well supplied with food and water, placed in 
a convenient and undisturbed situation, to which she may 
have free access. The gander is very attentive to his fa- 
vorite, sits by her, and is vigilant and daring in her defence. 



DOMESTIC GOOSE. 85 



Like young turkeys, goslings are about a month in hatch- 
ing. On the first day after the goslings are hatched, they 
may be let out, if the weather be warm, care being taken 
not to let them be exposed to the unshaded heat of the 
sun, which might kill them, the food given is prepared 



BREMEN OR E^rBDEN GEESE. 

with some Indian meal, coarsely ground bran, lettuce- 
leaves, and crusts of bread boiled in milk. To such gos- 
lings as are a little strong, this food need only be given 
twice a day, morning and evening, continuing to give it till 
the wings begin to cross on the back, and after this a 
larger amount of green food with a little corn, wheat, etc., 
morning and evening;. 



86 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

The principal breeds of geese are the China Goose (which 
is also called the Guinea Goose, Spanish Goose, African 
Goose, and a host of other names in the English tongue), 
Toulouse Goose, and the Bremen or Embden Goose. 

The China Goose lays a great number of eggs, and a 
cross between it and the Toulouse, gives a delicious bird, 
for the table. The goose resembles the gander in form 
and color, and both have a dark brown strips down the 
back of the neck. — They are graceful in form, but have 
that most trying of all defects, a discordant voice, and be- 
ing very loquacious, it is a serious evil to be constantly ex- 
posed to their whining, discontented harsh cry — on a dis- 
tant piece of water they look well, as they are peculiarly 
elegant in movement. Their color is brown, shaded with 
white on the breast / bill, tuberculated and black ; neck, 
long ; feet and legs, black. 

The Toulouse Goose should be tall and erect, with the 
body hanging on the ground ; the breast and the body 
light grey ; back, dark grey ; neck, darker grey ; wings 
and belly should shade off to white, but there should be but 
little actual white visible ; bills, pale flesh color, hard and 
strong; legs and/eetf, deep orange, approaching red. The 
weight of these birds by careful feeding and management 
has become extraordinary, 74 lbs. for three birds has been 
attained. The Cup gander at Birmingham, in 1859, 
weighed 33 lbs., and in 1860, 30 lbs. — Goslings early in 
October often weigh 20 to 22 pounds. 

Bremen or Embden Geese have blossom-white plum- 
age; bills, flesh color; legs and/eetf, orange. These birds 
attain great weights, averaging from 45 to 50 lbs. per pair, 
and are valuable on account of the superior quality and 
color of the down, but to look well they must have access 
to a pond. The quiet domestic character of the Bremen 
geese causes them to lay on flesh rapidly, they seldom stray 



FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF DUCKS. 87 

from their homes and much of their time is spent in a state 
of repose. 



FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF DUCKS. 

It is not in all situations that ducks can be kept with 
advantage ; they require water even much more than the 
goose ; they are no graziers, yet they are hearty feeders, 
and excellent " snappers-up of unconsidered trifles." Noth- 
ing comes amiss to them — green vegetables, especially when 
boiled, the rejectamenta of the kitchen, meal of all sorts 
made into a paste, grains, bread, animal substances, worms, 
sings and snails, insects and their larvse, are all accepted 
with eagerness. Their appetite is not fastidious ; in fact, 
to parody the line of a song, " they eat all that is luscious, 
eat all that they can," and seem to be determined to re- 
ward their owner by keeping themselves in first rate con- 
dition, if the chance of so doing is afforded them. They 
never need cramming ; give them enough and they will 
cram themselves ; yet they have their requirements and 
ways of their own, which mnst be Conceded. Confinement 
will not do for them ; an orchard, a green lane, and a pond ; 
a farm yard, with barns and water, a common of rather 
wide extent, smooth and level, with a sheet of water and 
nice ditches, abounding in the season with tadpoles and 
the larvse of aquatic insects — these are the localities in 
which the duck delights, and in such they are kept at lit- 
tle expense. They traverse the green sward in Indian file, 
and thus return at evening to their dormitory, or emerge 
from it to the edge of the pond, over which they scatter 
themselves, thus also they come to the call of their feeder. 
Ducks should always have a lodging place of their own; 



88 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

they should be separated from fowls, and never housed be- 
neath their perches ; yet where fowls are kept, a little con- 
trivance would suffice to make them a comfortable berth 
in a fowl-house. In w T inter, a thin bedding of straw, rush- 
es, or fern leaves should be placed on the floor of their dor- 
mitory, and changed every second day. More than four or 
five females should not be allowed to a single drake. The 
duck lays a great many eggs in the season. She is chiefly 
a Spring layer, and while she is laying, produces an egg 
generally every day. The female will cover with comfort 
twelve or fourteen eggs, and in most cases is a steady sit- 
ter.' When she inclines to sit give her a plentiful nest, 
with some broken hay or straw ready at hand, with which 
to cover the eggs when she leaves them. As nature in- 
structs her to use this precaution, no doubt it is best to 
give her the opportunity. Let her be supplied with food 
and water directly after she leaves her nest, and if she 
chooses to take a bath it will do no harm. It is common 
to put ducks' eggs under hens, and it is ludicrous, though 
somewhat painful, to see the trepidation and anxiety of the 
foster-mother on the edge of a pond, into which the young 
ducks have plunged, regardless of her feelings and incessant 
clucking — a language they do not understand. If tame 
ducks visit the water too early, they are very apt to be- 
come cramped, and perish ; for if they once become satur- 
ated with water, they invariably perish. Ducks never be- 
come wet w r hen properly fledged, for their plumage throws 
off the fluid, and they return dry from the pond ; but duck- 
lings, while yet in the down, get wet, and should not there- 
fore go to the water until feathers supply the place of the 
early down. They are easily reared, being fed on meal 
mixed with potatoes; they are useful in gardens, which 
they clear of slugs and snails, with little injury to crops of 
vegetables. The ponds to which they have access should 
contain neither pike nor eels ; and rats should be extirpa- 



WHITE AYLESBURY DUCKS. 89 

ted from the same places. Rats and skunks often thin 
out a flock of ducklings most uncompromisingly. 

Ducks are generally found good sitters and mothers, 
and it is a pity to rob them of a task which is more advan- 
tageously performed by them than by hens. Let the ducks 
hatch their own ducklings, only taking care to keep her 
and them from water. 



WHITE AYLESBURY DUCKS. 

Of all ducks, the best are the Aylesbury — plumage of 
unspotted white, a pale flesh-colored bill, a dark, promi- 
nent eye, with orange legs and a stately carriage, are the 
characteristics of this race, whose name is derived from 
the town of Aylesbury, England, in which neighborhood 
they are kept in large numbers for the supply of the Lon- 
don markets. The weight of the adult Aylesbury duck 
should at least average, if properly fed, from ten to twelve 
pounds the pair (duck and drake). Instances have, how- 
ever, occurred where the drakes have come up to eight 
pounds and upwards, and would in all probability, if fat- 
tened, reach ten pounds each. They are prolific layers. 
From two of these ducks, three hundred eggs have been 
obtained in the course of twelve months ; in addition to 
which one of them sat twice, the other only once, the three 
nests giving thirty young ones. The eggs vary in color, 
some being white, while others are of a pale-blue tint, the 
average weight being three ounces. As a further recom- 
mendation for them in an economical point of view, their 
consumption of food is less than that of the common duck; 
and another advantage may be found in their comparative 
silence from the continuous " quack, quack, quack," of the 
latter bird. They also attain greater weight in less time; 



90 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

and from their superior appearance when plucked, are a far 
more marketable article. 

The Aylesbury duck is so distinct from any other as to 
be easily distinguished by any person desirous of obtaining 
them. They are better sitters than the Rouen duck, and 
also, from their lighter form, better nurses than the latter. 
Some writers on poultry have given a preference to the 
Rouen duck over the Aylesbury, but I should say their 
opinions must be biased by the richness of the Rouen's 
plumage. This, however, is a point of minor considera- 
tion in a bird whose merits must be weighed by its value 
as an economical inhabitant of the poultry-yard ; but where 
both these recommendations can be combined, there are 
few persons who would not by experience prefer the 
Aylesbury. 

Mr. John Giles, of Woodstock, Connecticut, who has 
probably had as much, if not more experience in the breed- 
ing and management of fowls of all descriptions than any 
other fowl-fancier in the country, says of the Aylesbury 
duck : 

" The breed I brought with me from England are white, 
with white bills ; their flesh is of a beautiful white ; their 
weight eight to ten pounds per pair when fully grown. 
They are considered a rarity in London, commanding one- 
third more price than any other ducks brought to market." 

Mowbray says : " The white Aylesbury ducks are a 
beautiful and ornamental stock. They are said to be early 
layers and breeders. Vast quantities are fattened for the 
London markets, where they are in great demand. Many 
families derive a comfortable living from breeding and 
rearing ducks, the greater part of which — the early ones, 
at all events — are actually reared by hand. The interior 
of the cottages of those who follow this occupation pre- 
sents a very curious appearance to the stranger, being fur- 
nished with boxes for the protection of the tender charge 



MUSK OE MUSCOVY nUCK. 01 

of the good-wife, whose whole time and attention are taken 
up with this branch of domestic economy." 

The American Agriculturist says, in the number for 
August, 1864 : " The only variety which really rivals the 
Rouen as a useful and economical bird is the Aylesbury. 
These are a pure white English variety, are beautiful birds, 
and highly esteemed in the markets of Great Britain, as 
also in the United States where they are known. They 
are good layers and nurses, not noisy, good feeders, and by 
some decidedly preferred to the Rouen." 

The Field, (London,) of Dec. 26th, 1864, says : " Ayles- 
burys are superior in weight and early maturity to Rouens, 
and are consequently generally preferred by those who 
breed for the supply of the London markets." 



THE MUSK OR MUSCOVY DUCK. 

The Musk Duck, so termed from the strong scent of 
musk which its skin exhales, is undoubtedly the type of a 
genus very distinct from that of the common duck. In 
this species the feathers are large, lax, and powdery ; the 
cheeks are naked, and the base of the bill is carunculated. 
This duck greatly exceeds the ordinary kind in size, and 
the male is far larger than the female. The general color 
is glossy blue-black, varied more or less with white ; but 
they are also known pure white and blue. A scarlet 
fleshy space surrounds the eye, continued from scarlet car- 
uncles at the base of the beak. The tail is destitute of 
the curled feathers so conspicuous in the tail of the com- 
mon drake. 

According to Buffon, these birds were introduced into 
France from Guiana about the year 1540. The species 
was known to Day, who termed it the wood-duck of Bra- 



92 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

zil. Marcgrave, who describes the Musk Duck as black 
with white shoulders, terms it " a woodland duck, as large 
as a goose." He observes it is common in Brazil, Guiana, 
and Paraguay. In Paraguay it is seen either in pairs or in 
flocks of twenty or thirty, which roost together on high 
trees ; the female lays in September from ten to fourteen 
eggs, in the hollow of a tree, on a bed of feathers from the 
breast of the male. Mr. Eyeton, in his valuable work on 
the duck tribe, states that these birds " are supposed to be 
the original natives of South America " — an impression 
which evidently implies that he had not been able to veri- 
fy the original locality of the species. 

The Musk Duck is fond of warmth, passing the night, at 
the north, not in the open air, but in the fowl- house, with 
the cock and hens ; and selecting by day the most sunny 
corner to bask and dose in. It will never go near the wa- 
ter if it can help it, but will prefer the farm-yard, the pre- 
cincts of the kitchen, or even the piggery itself, to the 
clearest stream that ever flowed. In fact, it hates Avater, 
except some dirty puddle to drink and dabble in. It does 
sometimes seem to enjoy a bath ; but so does a pigeon or 
canary-bird. Its very short leg does not appear to be 
mechanically adapted for the purpose of swimming. It 
waddles on the surface of a pond as much as it does on dry 
land, and is evidently out of its place in either situation. Its 
proper mode of locomotion is through the air ; its conge- 
nial haunts being among the branches of trees. 

The female of the Musk duck has considerable power of 
flight, and is easy and self-possessed in the use of its wings. 
It is fond of perching on the tops of barns, walls, etc. Its 
feet appear, by their form, to be more adapted to such pur- 
poses than most of other ducks. If allowed to spend the 
night in the hen-house, the female will generally go to roost 
by the side of the hens, but the drake is too heavy to 
mount thither with ease. His claws are sharp and long 



MUSK OK MUSCOVY DUCK. 93 

and he approaches the tribe of "scratchers" in an unsci- 
entific sense, being almost as dangerous to handle incau- 
tiously as an ill-tempered cat, and will occasionally adopt a 
still more offensive and scarcely-describable means of an- 
noyance. 

He manifests little affection for his partner, and none 
towards her offspring. The possession of three or four 
mates suits him and them better than to be confined to the 
company of a single one. He bullies other fowls, some- 
times by pulling their feathers, but more frequently by 
following them close, and repeatedly thrusting his face in 
their way, with an offensive and satyr-like expression of 
countenance. 

The Musk Duck, though a voracious feeder, is easily 
fattened. As layers, they are inferior to the Aylesbury or 
Rouen. Their eggs are rounder than those of the com- 
mon duck, and frequently incline to a greenish tint. 

■The newly-hatched young resemble those of the com- 
mon tame duck ; they are covered with down, the shades 
of which indicate the color of the future feathers ; and 
they do not for some time show any appearance of the tu- 
berculated face. They are delicate, and require some care 
while young, but are quite hardy when full grown. Their 
food should be anything that is nutritious, supplied in abun- 
dance and variety. The Musk duck is excellent eating, if 
killed just before it is fully fledged ; but it is longer in be- 
coming fit for the table than the common duck. The flesh 
is at first high-flavored and tender ; but an old bird would 
be rank, and the toughest of tough meats. 

No very high opinion is entertained as regards the ap- 
pearance, habits or economy of this duck in the poultry- 
yard. The bloated look of the head, the inordinate length 
of the body, its awkward legs and twaddle walk, mar the 
effects of colors that are often brilliant and striking. 



94 DOMESTIC POULTEY. 



THE ROUEN DUCK. 

The Rouen Duck derives its name from the city of Rou- 
en on the river Seine, in France, and is esteemed highly by 
epicures. It is a prolific bird, and lays large eggs. Its 
size is the criterion of its value. In color the Rouen duck 
closely assimilates to the wild duck ; the drake's especially 
is magnificent ; its head and neck being a rich lustrous 
green, with a white ring at the base of the neck ; breast a 
reddish brown ; the remainder of the body and wings par- 
taking very much of the colors of the wild mallard. The 
duck is a brown bird, the feathers being all marked with 
black ; she has, at a very early age, a great development 
of her " stomach pouch," which frequently hangs so low 
as to impede the action of the bird. From this and other 
causes the Rouen is a less active variety than the Ayles- 
bury, and for the same cause does not make a good sitter, 
being too heavy for the young birds when hatching, and 
for this cause her eggs should be placed under a hen. 
This is the more necessary, as the duck lays so long, that 
it often makes the brood a very late one, if the eggs are 
not set till she is broody. Cases are reported of ducks of 
this breed, which laid an egg a day for 85 and 92 succes- 
sive days, and though this is unusual, yet they often lay a 
similar length of time before they become ready to sit. 

The Rouen is the most lethargic, and, consequently, the 
most speedily fed of any. Their whole appearance is 
rather ungainly ; but the most inconsiderate observer can 
hardly fail of being struck with the size of good specimens 
of this breed. They are as hardy as any other kind, and 
rarely evince any disposition to w r ander from their home, 
and an especial recommendation is, that they are not noisy. 



96 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 



POULTRY FOR EXHIBITION, 

There is neither so much profit, nor so much honor, in 
gaining prizes with bought birds as with those that have 
been bred at home. As a rule, those who are in a position 
to give the largest sums are not those who pay the most 
attention to their birds ; and it is almost impossible one 
person should possess all the advantages requisite to sac- 
cess. The produce of the best birds in the world, if only 
moderately attended to, will not be better than those of 
merely good ones favored by every advantage. If it is 
wished to exhibit at early shows or fairs, say in June, July, 
and August, the chickens should be hatched early in Feb- 
ruary, one thing alone operates disadvantageously, namely, 
that the nights are longer. 

About the middle of January two or three hens should 
be set in a warm, sheltered spot, and each should have 
seven eggs from selected birds, above all such as have no 
capital defects or lack of any virtue. Grant that five chick- 
ens are hatched under each, which is enough — and as many 
as she can rear, — it will take at least fifteen chickens hatch- 
ed to produce six fit to show in June. 

It is easy to give any quantity of food, and to supply any 
amount of heat, but it must always be impossible to give 
sufficient nourishment in eight hours to last for and carry 
chickens over the twenty-four. It will therefore be neces- 
sary to feed them twice after dark, and this should be done 
even with those that are intended for the market, and never 
hope for any distinction beyond that of beiug spring chick- 
ens and eaten with asparagus. Say that the last daylight- 
meal is at four o'clock, and then at eight give them anoth- 
er by candle light. 

The coop should be in doors, covered carefully, so as to 



POULTRY FOU EXHIBITION. 97 

exclude any cold air. Place a dark board, on which the 
food, curd, egg, or bread and milk will be easily seen, in 
front, and then raising a corner of the covering immedi- 
ately before the board, throw down the light of a candle 
on it, and call the chickens. Repeat the meal at 11 o'clock, 
and again at 7 in the morning ; and the night is reduced 
to eight hours' fasting, which the chickens can bear with- 
out injury. As they grow, if either of them shows any 
great defect, fatten it for the table or market, and reserve 
all that you can of those that promise to make a good re- 
turn. Of course, this is only needed for those that are 
hatched early ; the late ones do not require it, they have 
nature on their side, and she is a good nurse. Those very 
early chickens are not wanted for late shows or fairs ; the 
produce of April or May will always beat them. Where 
many fowls are bred from a good stock, and kept in a farm- 
yard affording all necessary food, we would be content to 
leave altogether, even though we intended to exhibit. 
Weight is never the principal point in fowls. It is more 
important in December and the later winter-shows, than 
it is between August and November. At this later period 
that which is looked for in a prize-taker is a large frame. 
The food has been expended in height, length, and breadth, 
and while this is the case there will be no weight and fat. 
That which stops the growth and induces fattening lessens 
the probability of success. 

All fowls should be together for some days before they 
go to a show or fair. Being on the same walk is not enough ; 
they should be daily confined in a small space. If this 
precaution is not taken, success is frequently marred by the 
pen having one hen or another torn to pieces, or eaten, 
at least so far as the scalp and back part of the neck are 
concerned. This is more frequently the work of the hens 
than of the, cock ; and when they are put together, if one 
begins to beat another, and is allowed to do so without 
5 



98 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

resistance, it is useless to think of their agreeing, and mad- 
ness to think of showing them together. As a hen or pul- 
let is frequently spoiled for exhibition in a few minutes, it 
may be worth while to describe the first appearance of an 
intended aggression. 

The pugnacious hen will begin by raising herself on tip- 
toe till she can look down on her antagonist, then, dropping 
her wings and raising her hackle, she will strike the first 
blow. If this be submitted to, there is no hope for the 
beaten. She should be removed ; they will never agree, 
and she will be eaten. It may be asked why these things 
do not occur in yards. The reason is simple. Because the 
space allows room for the victim to escape ; but it is one 
of the inexplicable things of poultry, that when in presence 
of a pugnacious mate, a hen or pullet tries no resistance, 
she endeavors to find an outlet for flight ; failing that, she 
chooses a corner into which she thrusts her head, and thus 
" accepting the situation " she stands still while she is 
eaten. But without fighting they sometimes disagree, and 
then they show to disadvantage, because the weakest bird 
is always out of sight. 

If an amateur who wishes to exhibit, has fifteen fowls to 
choose from, and to form a pen of a cock and two hens, he 
should study and scan them while feeding at his feet in the 
morning. He should then have a place similar to an ex- 
hibition pen, wherein he can place the selected birds ; they 
should be raised to the height at which he can best see 
them, and before he has looked long at them defects will 
become apparent one after the other, till, in all probabil- 
ity, neither of the subjects of his first choice will go to 
the show. We also advise him rather to look for defects 
than to dwell on beauties ; the latter are always promi- 
nent enough. Then pen of which we speak should be a 
moveable one, for convenience sake, and it is well to leave 
the fowls in it for a time to nccustom them to each other. 



POULTRY FOE EXHIBITION. 99 

In all cases (save those in which white plumage is de- 
sirable) we advise that fowls, such as Dorking, Cochins, 
Brahma Pootras, and all golden birds, should run at liber- 
ty till they are wanted to send away. Spanish are im- 
proved by confinement in a dark place for some days be- 
fore exhibition, giving just enough of light to enable them 
to pick their food and to perch. They should also be lit- 
tered with straw, as cleanliness has much to do with the 
success of these birds. 

Game-fowls should be kept up for a few days, and fed 
on bread, meal, barley, and peas. These latter make the 
plumage hard, but they must be used sparingly, as they 
have a tendency to fatten. White feathered birds, such as 
Silver-pencilled Hamburgs, the top-knots of Silver Polands, 
the tails of Silver-spangled, all require washing. This is 
not difficult. Put a handful of soda in a bowl of warm 
water. Immerse the fowl entirely, rinse thoroughly with 
cold water, wipe with a flannel and place in a basket, with 
soft straw, before a fire to dry. All fowls should have 
their legs washed before they are sent to a show ; scurf or 
dead skin should be removed from the comb, dry dirt from 
the beak, and stains from the plumage. Baskets in which 
they are packed should always be round, high enough for 
the cocks to stand upright, and covered with canvas. If 
a single covering of canvas is not deemed enough it may 
be double, and the space between filled with hay. No 
injury can then, by any possibility, be done to the birds. 
But if the basket be square, feathers must be broken, and 
if the top be unyielding wicker-work, whether it be a top- 
knot or comb that comes in contact with it, it must suffer 
by being flattened. 

Fowls should be thoroughly fed before they leave for a 
show, but the food should be soft. Sopped or steeped 
bread is excellent. Hard food is to be avoided, because 
the digestion is to take place without help from exercise, 



100 DOMESTIC POULTEY. 

gravel, or anything else. This is more important than 
may appear at first, when it is considered they will proba- 
bly undergo the ordeal of judgment within a few hours of 
their departure from home, and that indigestion is accom- 
panied by sickly and ruffled plumage, dullness of color, 
dark comb and yellow face. In cold weather it is neces- 
sary they should have plently of straw in their baskets for 
warmth sake ; and when fowls go frequently to fairs or 
shows the straw should be renewed every time. 

Fowls are not chilly, but they dislike draughts, and even 
in the railroad cars there are chinks and crevices through 
which there is an active current. They are also left in 
open and exposed spots at stations, and then the warm 
straw plays a useful part. 

In fowls, as in other things, " let well alone " is a good 
and useful motto. When they return from a fair, looking 
in perfect health, do nothing ; but if combs be dark, or 
crops be hard, a tablespoonful of castor oil is a valuable 
medicine and proper treatment. Where it is convenient, 
it is useful to have a spare run, where birds can be put 
down on their return from fairs, and subjected, if neces- 
sary, to an especial treatment. I do not say this is neces- 
sary, especially in the present day. 

They seldom require any other treatment than purga- 
tives to remove the accumulations of three or four days 
of unnatural appetite, undue feed from mistaken kindness, 
and perhaps rubbish from the bottoms of the cages. 

These are things so generally known, it would seem 
ridiculous to mention them ; yet I would not be justified in 
leaving them out. I speak of one of them when I remind 
exhibitors that birds in a pen must match as to comb and 
color of legs. 



TECHNICAL TERMS. 



101 




TERMS AND TECHNICALITIES. 

The Terms explained by reference to the above engrav- 
ing, are as follows : 



A— The Face. 

B— The Comb. 

C— The Wattles. 

D— The Ear. 

E— The Ear-lobe. 

F— Neck-hackle. 

G — Saddle feathers or Back-hackle. 

H— Breast, extending to the thighs. 



J — Upper wing-coverts. 
K— Lower wing-coverts. 
L — Flight feathers. 
M— The Tail. 
N— Sickle Tail-feathers. 
O— Tail Coverts. 
P— The Thighs. 
R— The Legs. 



Some other terms are the following : 

Carunculated. — Covered with fleshy protuberances like a Turkey-cock's head 

and neck, or the head of a Musk drake. 
Casque.— The helmet-like, fleshy protuberance or comb of the Guinea Fowl. 






102 DOMESTIC POULTRY. 

Clutch.— A number of eggs sat upon by a fowl, or the number of chickens 

brought off. 
Clung. — Shrunk and stringy, applied to flesh which has never been properly 

fattended, or which has fallen away after being fat. 
Crest.— The Tuft of Feathers which some fowls, like the Polands, have upon 

their heads. 
Deaf Ear. — A name improperly applied to the true ear of the fowl. — A shallow 

hole, or depression with a hair-like covering. 
Dubbing. — Trimming off the combs and wattles of Game fowls, for fighting, or 

for exhibition. 
Dunghills. — Common Fowls ; those of mixed breeds, not crossed with definite 

purpose, or those of a breed degenerated. 
Fluff —Soft downy feathers in masses upon certain parts of fowls — as upon the 

rumps and thighs of Cochins. 
Moulting. — Periodical shedding and renewal of feathers. 
Pea-comb.— A tripple comb — a principal comb with a small one on each side. 
Poult. — A young turkey, or other galinaceous fowl, before it takes on the full 

plumage of a mature bird. 
Rose-comb. — A full, broad, flat comb, called also "Double comb." 
Top Knot.— See Crest. 
Vulture Hocked.— Having the feathers upon the thigh project backward below 

and beyond the "hock" joints. 



103 



INDEX. 



Baskets for Transporting and Showing Fowls in 99 

Breeding from Young Fowls desirable 19 

Breeding — Necessity of Fresh Blood 20 

Breeding Stock 19 

Breeds : 

Bantams, Golden and Silver Seabrights, Description, etc.— Character- 
istics not well fixed— Weight— Black Bantams— Feather-legged, etc.— 

Layers, Sitters, and Nurses 68-70 

Bolton Greys 65 

Brahma Pootras — Origin — First Appearance— Description — Opinions of 
Poultry Fanciers— Estimation of Brahma's in Different Countries- 
High Prices— Sitters and Nurses— Layers and Market Fowls 34-41 

Chitterprats 65 

Cochin China Fowls— Introduction and Dissemination— Description- 
Colors — Changes of Plumage with Age — Early Layers and Sitters. .60-63 

Creole Fowls 65 

Crevecceur Fowls 73 

Dorniniques 65 

Dorkings— Antiquity— First brought to the U. S.— Varieties— Value as 
Layers, Market Birds, etc.— May not be bred in-and-in— Estimation 

in England— Grev preferred to White variety 41-48 

French Breeds, with Description of each. ..." 71-74 

Games— Antiquitv of Cock-fighting— Characteristics and Description- 
Dubbing — Cutting-out — Fitness for the Table — Lord Derby's breed — 

Good Sitters and Nurses 52-57 

Game Fowls fed so as to harden Plumage 99 

Hamburgs, Golden and Silver-penciled — Origin and Description — Non- 
sitters— Guards 63-65 

Houdan Fowls ■ •. 71 

• La Fleche Fowls. 74 

Malays — Origin and Description — Chickens — Colors— Hardiness — Pug- 
nacity 58-60 

Poland Fowls— Black, and Spangled— Description— Mal-formation com- 
mon 65 63 

Spanish Fowls— Description -Color — Form— Large Eggs— Difficult to 

rear — White Feathers in Chickens — Constant Layers 48-52 

Spanish Fowls confined before Exhibiting 99 

Turkish Fowls 65 

Chickens— Care of Young 20-21 

Coop for Fattening Fowls 22-25 

Coop for Hen and Chickens 20 

Coop for very Early Chickens 97 

Cramming Fowls .25-26 

Degeneracy of Blood, How shown 32 

Diseases : 

Arising from filthy Water 22 

B umble-footed 11 

Crop-bound 26 

Dropsy caused bv stimulating food 18 

Gapes .* 30 

Indigestion 25-31 

Roup 29 

Scouring 3] 

Weak Knees 11-32 

Ducks : 

Aylesbury 89 

Aylesbury, Opinions of popular Writers and Poultry Fanciers 90-91 

Enemies of 89 

Feeding and Management 87 

Musk or Muscovy 91 

Musk— Various Authorities on 91-2 

Rouen — Characteristics of, etc. . 94 

Ducklings in the down die of wet 83 



104 INDEX. 

Fattening Food and Time of Feeding 23 

Fattening Fowls: 22 

Age most suitable for 27 

Cause of tough flesh in 27»28 

Shelter essential to 27 

Killed after Fasting 28 

Fattening — Time required for 24-26 

Feeding Fowls 15-16-24 

Feeding after Traveling or Fasting 16 

Food : 

Amount consumed by Fowls 15 

For Show birds 99 

For Young Chickens 21 

Grass, essential 15-24 

Insects, etc., as food 17 

Raw meat unsuitable 16 

Stimulating food, Effect of 18 

To make Hens lay 18 

Vegetable food for Fowls 16 

Fowls : 

Avoid draughts 11 

" Bumble-footed " 14 

Mentioned in Scriptures and in the Classics 9 

Origin of Domestic 3 

Over-fed. 18 

Geese : 

Breeding Geese 84 

Disease of, from short feed 84 

Habits at pasture 84 

African 86 

Bremen 86 

China 86 

Domestic. 83 

Embden 86 

Guinea 86 

Toulouse 86 

Goose-house 84 

Goose Pasture 84 

Goose — Varieties of the 86 

Goslings— Food for 85 

Goslings— Young, killed by hot Sun ~--.„ 85 

Guinea Fowl — Habits — Eggs — Hide their Nests — How to find them — Mate in 

Pairs— Breeding, etc 80-82 

Hatching 20 

Laying and Sitting Hens, Kept apart 13 

Lice 31 

Nest Boxes 12 

Nests— Grass Sods for Bottoms of 13 

Perches for Roosts 11 

Poultry for Exhibitions — Breeding and Management of 96-98 

Poultry for Exhibitions — Fighting or cowed Fowls to be avoided in 98 

Poultry Houses : 

Plan of Cheap. 14 

Divisions of. 12 

Earth floors for 12-14 

Fowls onlv in 12 

Should be'lofty 10 

Ventilation of 11-14 

Why desirable 10 

Poultry Yard — Covered run 13 

Sitting Hens 20 

Turkies— Colors — Hardiness — Habits— Breeding — Choice of Breeding Birds — 

Cock destroys Eggs— Hen a faithful Sitter— Care of chickens 75-80 

Water— Purity and Freshness essential . . 21 

Washing Poultry 99 

White Fowls to have Freedom before Exhibiting them 9d 



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